Christmas In New York
by miss37
Summary: Mac goes to bed one night and wakes up feeling sick and exhausted the next morning after the team gets involved in a new case. Mac goes to the doctor only to find out that he is not sick with the flu, but that he had a very strange night that he does not remember. Can he find out what happened before it ruins his career and maybe his relationship with Christine?
1. Chapter 1

Mac Taylor stared at the Christmas tree standing in the window of his apartment and smiled. It was the first time he had a Christmas tree since Claire died. He picked up his next ornament which was the first ornament they ever bought together and it said "Our First Christmas". Claire had always loved Christmas, but since she had died, he had not felt much like being "merry"…until now. He had Christine to share Christmas with now. He wanted to enjoy this Christmas like he used to. He looked up at the bright lights on the tree and the colors. It reminded him that there was still good in the world no matter how much evil there was.

As Mac was finishing decorating the tree, the doorbell rang. He smiled as he knew who it was. He walked to the door and opened it. Christine was standing at the door dressed in red. "It's not Christmas yet," he said.

"I know," Christine replied. "But December is a colorful month." She put her hands on her hips. "Are you going to let me in?"

Mac smiled and opened the door wider. "Come right in, Madame."

Christine went in and smiled as she saw the Christmas tree. "Oh, it's beautiful, Mac," she said.

Mac took her coat and hung it on the coat rack and then put his arms around her from behind. "You've brought the meaning of Christmas back to me," he said.

Christine turned around in his arms. She touched his face. "It's always been inside you, Mac," she said and kissed him.

"But I had no one to share it with."

They went into the kitchen. They were going to cook together for their date tonight. "Do you ever visit family for the holidays?" Christine asked.

"I don't usually because I'm usually busy," Mac said.

Christine looked at him. "Don't you think you should? We should cherish the people we love while they're here because some day they could be gone."

"But this will be our first Christmas together. I want to share that. It's something we can remember all our lives."

"I know. Why don't we go and visit someone for New Year's?"

Mac considered that. "Like who?"

"Oh, I don't know. Don't you have a brother and sister?"

"Yes. I have a sister who lives in Florida and a brother who lives in Chicago."

"Florida sounds nice this time of year."

Mac smiled. "If you like it warm all year long."

"It wouldn't bother me."

"Well, if you liked it warm, why did you never move somewhere like that?"

Christine considered that. "I don't know. Fear of the unknown, I guess. I don't know anyone there and I guess I just didn't want to move that far away from what I know."

"I guess it would be hard. I had Claire when I moved here. She was familiar with the city and it made it easier for me."

When they were done with their meal, they went out to see a play at the theater. "Oh, it's so cold out there!" Christine said as she rubbed her arms.

Mac blew in his hands even though he had gloves on. The cold seemed to go through them. "Winter has definitely arrived," he said.

"In a big way."

While they were watching the play, Mac's phone began vibrating in his shirt pocket. He cleared his throat and squirmed a little and tried to ignore it. However, his heart was jumping and wondering what it was about. He knew it had to be about a case. He twisted in his chair and tried to get his mind on the play. He put his arm around Christine.

"Are you alright?" Christine asked, noticing his restlessness.

"Yes," Mac replied.

A few minutes later, Mac's phone vibrated again. It was vibrating right against his chest and he could not help but notice it and it was driving him crazy. "Uhm, I have to go to the bathroom," he said. "Excuse me."

"Mac, you're going to the bathroom and miss the middle part?" Christine asked.

"Well, when nature calls, you have to answer."

Mac got up, feeling a little embarrassed at having to get up in the middle of the play. He really did need to go to the bathroom but he did not think he would be going if it weren't for that text message. He did not want Christine to know he was looking at a text from work while they were on a date. He went into the bathroom and looked at the texts. The first one was about a body in Central Park, and the other was from Don asking "Where are you?"

Mac frowned at that. He should not have put himself on call tonight. He had known he was going to be on a date. He could have let someone else do it but he had chosen to, and Christine did not even know that either. He put his phone away and went on into one of the bathroom stalls. He thought he might as well make some good of this bathroom trip. He would have to tell Christine because he had to go to the crime scene. She would be disappointed.

Mac came out of the bathroom and called Don Flack. "Flack," Don said. "Where are you, Mac?"

"I'm on a date at the theater," Mac said. "Is there no one else at the scene?"

"Danny and Sheldon are here."

"Good. Just call me if I'm needed. What's the case about?"

"The body's here in the Christmas display behind the Empire State Building and they were partially buried under the fake snow and it's starting to really snow out here."

Mac looked out the door of the theater at the falling snow. "Well, when this play is over, I'll be in after I take Christine home," he said.

"Hey, don't interrupt your date for this. I'm sure we can all handle it."

"I'll see you later, Don."

Mac put his phone back in his pocket and went back into the auditorium. He sat down beside Christine and got comfortable again. Christine folded her arms and looked at him. "You got a call, didn't you?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"Mac, don't pretend. You got a call from work. I know you wouldn't get up from this play just to go to the bathroom. This is your favorite play."

Mac looked up at the stage. They were watching "A Christmas Carol". He had to admit it was his favorite and he liked the movies too. He looked at Christine. "Okay, yes, I got a text," he whispered. "I told them to handle it and call me if they need me."

"You're on call, aren't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"Mac, why did you have yourself on call while we're going on a date?"

"I…"

"Excuse me," someone behind them said.

Mac and Christine looked at the woman who was leaning forward. "Would you two mind taking this conversation outside so the rest of us can enjoy the play?" she asked.

Mac frowned. "Sorry," he said and shifted in his seat. He and Christine looked at each other but then started paying attention to the play. Mac thought some people were so rude, but he knew people did not like someone talking while they were watching a play. He did not like it himself.

When the play was over, Mac drove Christine home. They stopped at her door and she looked up at him. "You can go to the office now," she said.

Mac brushed her hair back. "I'm not in a hurry to do that," he said. "Is that what you think?"

"You squirmed almost the entire time after you found out there was a case going on without you."

"It's my job."

"Is your job supposed to take over your whole life? Are you going to have a life other than that?"

"I do." Mac kissed her. "I didn't go to the crime scene."

"But you were thinking about it."

"I can't help but think about it."

"I don't think about the restaurant when I'm not there."

Mac gave her a skeptical look. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You don't think about what you want to have for specials the next day?"

"Not when I'm out with you."

Mac frowned. He supposed he deserved that. "I'm sorry. I'll try to do better."

Christine kissed him and lingered longer. "I love you, Mac Taylor," she said.

"I love you too," Mac replied.

"You coming in for a while or are you going to the office?"

Christine smiled as she unlocked the door. "Go ahead," she said. "I have to get up early in the morning."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Mac said.

When Christine was inside, Mac walked away. He frowned as he thought about that conversation. He could not help it that he had a demanding job. He loved Christine but that did not stop him from working. He scowled as he looked at his watch and got into the elevator. Flack had said someone was killed at the Christmas display behind the Empire State Building. He dreaded going out there in that cold weather but at least the scene was already investigated. He had to go to the lab and see what was going on.

Mac walked out into the freezing wind and snow and got into his Avalanche. He was glad it had seat warmers and a good heater. He headed for the precinct being careful on the snowy streets. He was sure Danny and Sheldon were back at the lab by now. He parked in the parking garage and went up to the lab. "Hey, Mac," Danny said. "I thought you were on a date."

"I was," Mac replied. "I'm not now so what's going on?"

"This guy was killed out there in that big Christmas display behind the Empire State Building. He was stabbed with this." Danny picked up a gold horn, that was long and straight except for the open horn at the end. "It belonged to one of the angels on display out there."

Mac stared at it and then looked at Danny. "He was stabbed with a horn?" he asked.

"Well, it's not a real one, you know. It's just for display. It's pretty sharp at the end."

"Do you have any clue as to how he got in there?"

"Well, the display is there for everyone to see. I guess he could have walked out there with someone and they had an argument and they just stabbed him with the first thing they saw."

Mac shook his head. "Did you find any fingerprints?" he asked.

"Nah, the one who stabbed him must have been wearing gloves," Danny said.

Sheldon walked in then. "It's an odd choice of murder weapons, isn't it?" he asked.

"Well, I guess it's no stranger than any others," Mac said. He picked up the folder about the victim. "Lawrence Wilson, forty-five, businessman. You know, he could have been murdered about something going on in his business."

"Or it could have been anything," Danny said.

"I guess we have to find out what this guy had going in his life."

Danny looked at Mac. "So, what have you got going in your life?" he asked.

Mac looked at him. "I was on a date," he said.

"And now you're here?"

"Yeah. I got the text while we were at the theater."

"You didn't get up and leave for this, did you?"

"No. I took her home after the play was over and…what business is that of yours?"

Danny almost laughed. "Just wondering."

"Well, let's see what we can find out about this guy and get going with this in the morning. Was there any other evidence?"

"The DNA is still in analysis, but I don't think there was anything there but the victim's DNA."

"Any footprints in that snow?" Mac asked.

"They were smudged because of so many. It looked like he struggled with whoever murdered him," Sheldon said. He showed the pictures to Mac. "You can see how all the prints overlap where they struggled."

"No prints leading out?" Mac asked.

"Some, but that fake snow doesn't keep prints like real snow. They just weren't good enough to make molds."

Mac nodded. "Well, I guess we have some work to do to find out who killed this guy. I want to get this case done before Christmas gets here."

"I'm sure we will," Danny said.

"You never know. It might be difficult to prove."


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Mac got up at six like he usually did. He felt tired and like he did not get any rest at all. He had gone to bed late, but he had slept. He did not know why he felt so tired. He got a shower and got dressed in his usual attire, a suit. He was wearing a blue shirt today and his blue striped suit. He thought he would have to go and get some coffee. He did not drink coffee all day anymore like he used to do but he drank some in the mornings sometimes. He rubbed his forehead as he thought he was about to get a headache and his stomach felt kinda sick. He hoped he was not getting the flu. It was always going around this time of year. He felt so thirsty he drank a whole bottle of water and still wanted more but he could not drink more than one bottle at a time.

Mac went on down to the parking garage to his Avalanche. He wiped his forehead and realized he was sweating. He could not figure out what was wrong with him. He was hardly ever sick but he thought he was getting there now. He thought of going to Christine's restaurant for breakfast, but if he went there, she would just be worrying about him all day, and he might even give this to her…but then again, he wanted her to know about it. He wanted…Mac shook his head. He wanted to be worried over. He was always worrying over something and he wanted someone to worry over him too.

Mac drove to Christine's restaurant and sat there a moment trying to feel a little better. He got out and went into the restaurant. When Mac walked in, Christine knew something was wrong. He was not smiling and she could see he was not feeling well just by his complexion. He walked over to the counter. "What's wrong?" Christine asked.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I think I'm getting sick."

Christine touched his face. "You don't feel like you have fever."

"I don't know what it is. I think I might be getting that flu or something."

"I hope not."

"I want some coffee," Mac said.

"What about breakfast?" Christine asked.

Mac shook his head. "I don't think I can eat." He sighed. "I'm not even sure I can drink the coffee."

"Just sit down here and I'll bring you some coffee."

Mac sat down on a stool at the counter and propped on his hand. He realized his throat was not sore, and that was usually one of the first symptoms of the flu and he did not think he had fever either. Christine came back with his coffee. Mac looked at the coffee and then looked into Christine's eyes. "Thanks," he said.

"Why don't you take the day off and go to the doctor?" she asked.

Mac knew he could do that. "I usually just wait until I get bad off and then just suffer through it."

"But you don't have to. You don't have to act like nothing bothers you or that you never need help."

"I know. I came in here because I wanted you to feel sorry for me."

Christine smiled. "What?"

Mac looked at her. "I admit it. I wanted you to feel sorry for me and pity me."

Christine laughed. "Mac, that is so funny." She looked at him a moment. "Are you serious?"

Mac nodded. "Yes. I didn't want you to catch this but I just needed to see you."

Christine stared at him a moment. "You mean that. That is so sweet."

Mac looked at her a little surprised. "Sweet?"

"Yes. I want you to need me."

"I 'do' need you."

Christine held his hand and kissed him on the forehead. "I'll tell you what…you go home and stay there today and I will come and bring you something for lunch and then I will come this evening and take care of you."

Mac looked at her, trying not to smile. "You will?"

"I absolutely will."

"I have to go home for you to do that? We just got a new case last night?"

"I think Jo and the others can handle it. You should go to the doctor and get something for this before it gets bad."

Mac knew she was right. He smiled. "What?" Christine asked.

"You know, men need a woman so she can tell him what he should do. You have good reasoning."

Christine smiled. "Are you going to take my advice?"

Mac looked at her. "Yeah, I guess I will."

"I'll be there at lunch."

Mac nodded. "Okay."

Christine watched Mac walk out of the restaurant. She loved him so much and she wanted to take care of him. She did not like seeing him feeling so bad. She had never seen him sick before except when he was shot, but she could tell that he was not feeling well.

Mac got into his Avalanche and called Jo. "Hello," Jo answered.

"Jo, I'm not coming in today," Mac said. "I'm not feeling well and I'm going to the doctor today."

"Oh, well, I hope you feel better. You need any help?"

"No, I'll be alright."

"Okay."

Mac put his phone away and drove back home. He definitely was not going to wear a suit today if he was not going to work. He went to his room and put on a sweatshirt and jeans. He felt cold but he did not have fever. He went over to his bed and started to make it up but he noticed something on the bed. He picked it up and it was a small piece of paper that looked like it could be the backing off of something. He did not know where that could have come from. He had not had anything in the bed or near it. He dropped the paper in the garbage. He made the bed and then got his phone and called the doctor's office to get an appointment. He was surprised that he could go on now.

Mac put his leather jacket on and got his keys and went down to the parking garage. He thought he was feeling better now that he was up and walking around but he would go to the doctor anyway. He felt achy and had a headache. He drove to the doctor's office and went inside. This was not the same doctor he saw after he was shot. That doctor was a trauma doctor and he did not treat illnesses like he was experiencing now.

Mac sat in the waiting room. He thought he was feeling better now but he was thirsty. He was soon called to the back and the nurse checked his vitals and his weight. Mac told her all the symptoms he was having. She showed him to a room and Mac sat down on the bed. He lay back and tried to relax. He did not know why he felt so exhausted. He had slept. He knew he did because he remembered getting into bed and thinking about Christine until he fell asleep…

Mac scowled as he tried to remember falling asleep. He supposed it was not unusual for someone not to remember falling asleep. He thought he had dreamed of Christine…he could not remember any dreams he had last night and he had woke up feeling sore and achy. Sore? He did not know why he had felt sore like he had been doing sit-ups. He supposed it was just from whatever was ailing him. His stomach still did not feel well.

The nurse came back in to take some blood and gave him a cup. When she drew the blood, Mac went into the bathroom. He felt like he could not relax enough to get a sample into that cup. He stared at the ceiling and blew out a breath. What was wrong with him?

When Mac was done, he went back to his room. He had thought it would be easy to do that since he drunk that whole bottle of water that morning. He lay back on the bed again and soon just fell asleep.

Mac was awakened when the doctor came in. "Morning," Doctor Thomas said.

Mac sat up. "Morning," he replied. "Sorry about that."

The doctor looked at the results of the tests and then looked at Mac. He walked over to him and began his examination by looking in his ears. "You have these problems before?" he asked.

Mac considered that. "No, not that I remember," he said.

Doctor Thomas looked in Mac's mouth and stared a moment and then he looked at Mac. "You sure you've never had these symptoms before?" he asked.

Mac scowled. "No, I haven't," he said. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, there were traces of ecstacy in your urine."

Mac's mouth dropped open. "What! That is impossible," he declared.

Doctor Thomas wrote on the chart he had in his hand. "There is also an imprint on the roof of your mouth," he said.

Mac stared at him, halfway angry. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Take a look." Doctor Thomas gave Mac a mirror and shined the light into his mouth so Mac could see the small image of a butterfly on the roof of his mouth.

Mac stared at it and then looked at the doctor. "This is impossible," he said. "I don't take drugs! I'm the head of the crime lab! I have never taken drugs!"

Doctor Thomas stared at Mac. He thought Mac was telling the truth. "Well, if you didn't, somebody is sure trying to make it look like you did," he said.

"What do you mean 'if'?" Mac asked.

"Well, all these symptoms you're having can occur after using that drug and since that is what's in your system, you obviously have had some ecstacy in the last twenty-four to seventy-two hours. You don't have the flu or anything like that."

Mac frowned and looked at the lab results. The doctor looked at Mac. "Did you go somewhere last night that you don't usually go?" he asked. "Were you alone?"

"No. My girlfriend and I went to a play and then I took her home and I went to the lab to see about a case that had just come in. Then I went home and went to bed." Mac looked at the doctor. "I didn't take any drugs. I would never do that."

Doctor Thomas scowled. "Well, somehow, they got into your system. Somebody is playing a bad joke on you."

Mac looked at him. "And I'm going to find out who," he said.

Doctor Thomas sighed. "I have to report this to your superiors," he said. "I'm sorry but I'm obligated."

Mac frowned. "You can't. You know I didn't take ecstacy!"

"I'm sorry."

Mac left the doctor's office feeling confused and worried. When that was reported to the commissioner, he could be fired. He would just go and talk to him first. He headed for Commissioner Reagan's office. He had not been to this office but one time but he would talk to him today.

Mac went into the waiting room and told the secretary that he needed to talk to Commissioner Reagan. He sat and waited. He thought maybe he should have gone home and put his suit back on but he did not want to take the time. He was soon called into the office. He went to the door and blew out a breath and then went in. What he had to talk to him about was not going to be easy.

"Detective Taylor," Commissioner Reagan said. "Come in. It's nice to see you."

Mac shook his hand and then they sat down. "What can I do for you?" Commissioner Reagan asked.

Mac did not even know how to start. He looked at him. "I need to talk to you about something that I found out at the doctor's office this morning," he said.

The commissioner leaned on his desk. "Go ahead," he said.

Mac laid the doctor's report on the desk. "Something happened to me last night," he said. "I woke up this morning feeling sick, and I thought I was getting the flu or something so I went to the doctor and…"

Reagan looked over his reading glasses at Mac as he had read the report. "They found ecstacy in your system?" he asked.

Mac looked at him. "Yes, sir, but I never took that," he said. "You can ask Christine. I was with her last night and then I went to the lab and then I went home and went to bed."

"Are you saying it was slipped on you somehow?"

"It had to be."

"But where?"

Mac considered that. He knew how this must sound. He remembered the time Sheldon had to take a drug test after he had been exposed to marijuana. He had not known they were smoking that at that party and had walked in on it. This was totally different. One could not be exposed to Ecstacy like that. "I don't know," he said. He looked at Commissioner Reagan. "I don't know."

Commissioner Reagan frowned. "You've been on this force for a lot of years, Detective Taylor," he said. "I want to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I promise you…I have never taken any drugs and I am not taking any now. I'm not even on my medications anymore. I don't know how this happened."

"You don't remember anything unusual that happened last night?"

"All I remember is going to bed and waking up feeling exhausted this morning and feeling sick."

Commissioner Reagan leaned back in his chair and looked at Mac. He pursed his lips which caused his thick mustache to look like it took over his entire mouth. "You think someone slipped it on you in your apartment?" he asked.

Mac considered that. "I don't know," he said. "It…" He frowned.

"You remember something?"

"There was something in my bed this morning. It was a small piece of paper that looked like a backing off something, and I don't remember having anything over there. I'm positive I didn't."

"Where is that paper now?"

"I dropped it in the trash."

Mac stood up. "I have to go," he said.

Commissioner Reagan stood up. "If someone did this, the question is 'why' and what are they going to do next?"

Mac stared at him a moment. He had not even contemplated that yet. He had been trying to figure out why that drug was in his system. "I have to get that paper," he said.

"I want to know what you find out," Commissioner Reagan said.

"Yes, sir."

Mac left that office even more confused than he had been before. He could not understand when someone could have given that to him, why they would give it to him, or how they gave it to him without him knowing it or remembering it. He knew those drugs sometimes had an effect on a person's memory though, especially if they were mixed with something else. He had to find out what was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you are all enjoying this story and I hope you will send me reviews. :) Thanks for reading. miss37**

Mac hurried back to his apartment and went straight to the bedroom. He picked up the garbage can and looked expecting to find the small piece of paper that he had dropped in there this morning…but it was not there. Mac stared at the trash can with his mouth open. He took the bag out and turned it wrong side out over the bed but there was nothing. He knew he put that paper in there. He pulled the covers off the bed and dropped them at the end of the bed and then he realized there were different sheets on the bed than what had been there that morning.

Mac stared at the bed a moment and then looked around the room. He knew someone had to be in his apartment. He opened the drawer on his nightstand and took his weapon out. He backed up a little and got his flashlight and then looked under the bed but there was nothing under there. He searched the apartment and then leaned against the wall in his bedroom. He could not believe this was happening. Who would sneak into his apartment and give him drugs…and why?

Mac sat down on the bed and thought. Ecstacy was a drug that enhanced the senses. He could not understand why he would be drugged with that. He also did not know why he could not remember it. He thought they must have done something else to him to put him deeper asleep. If they did, it had gotten out of his system before he went to the doctor. He could not imagine who would do something like this. He had not had any run-ins with anyone lately.

Mac got dressed in his suit again and went to the office. Jo was surprised when he walked in. "I thought you were sick," she said.

"So did I," Mac replied.

Jo looked confused. "What happened?"

"Come in my office."

Jo followed Mac to his office. He hung his coat on the coat rack and sat down behind his desk. "What's going on?" Jo asked.

"Somebody drugged me last night," Mac said.

Jo sat down on the couch. "What?"

"Somehow, somebody got into my apartment last night and drugged me, and they were there again today."

Jo stared at him a moment. "How do you know?"

"Well, when I went to the doctor this morning, instead of finding the flu virus in my system, they found Ecstacy in my urine."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "How? Is it being reported?"

"Yes, but I went to the Commissioner this morning and talked to him about it before it could get to him."

"What did he say?"

"He said he wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt but…" Mac leaned back in his chair. "I have no proof. Whoever did this got into my apartment this morning after I left and removed the evidence."

Jo was shocked at this news. "What evidence?" she asked.

"This morning before I went to the doctor, I started to make the bed and I found a small, square piece of paper that looked like it was peeled off something and I dropped it in the trash there in my room and when I realized what was going on, I went back to my apartment to get that and it was gone. I took the covers off the bed and the sheets had been changed."

Jo did not know what to say. "Ecstacy?"

"Yes, that's what the doctor told me." Mac stood up. "If it's still there, it left an imprint in the roof of my mouth."

"Come into the lab."

Mac followed Jo to the lab, but when she looked, the imprint was almost gone. However, there was a small portion of it left. "I see it," she said. She looked at Mac. "Mac, this is serious."

"I know that," Mac replied. "I don't remember anything. I took Christine home after the play and I came here to the lab. Danny and Sheldon were here. They know I was here, and I helped them a while and then I went home and went to bed. I don't remember anything after that. I don't even remember any dreams I had."

"Do you usually dream?"

Mac considered that. "Yes, I do," he said. He looked at Jo. "I didn't have any dreams about the war or anything last night. I can't remember even waking up at all."

Lindsey came over to them. "What's going on?" she asked.

Jo explained the situation to her. Lindsey looked at Mac. "That's terrible," she said. "What do you want us to do?"

"I don't know anything to do," Mac said. "I don't have a clue who this could be."

Jo thought a moment. "Has anyone been threatening toward you?" she asked.

"I have been straining my brain trying to figure this out," Mac said. "I haven't had any run-ins with anyone who is not in prison now."

"Maybe it's someone who's not happy about someone being in prison."

"This seems personal," Lindsey said. "Ecstacy is not just any old drug."

Mac frowned. "I have not been seeing any women," he said. "Christine is the first…" He hated telling them his personal life. "She is the first woman I have dated in a few years."

Jo and Lindsey did not want to make Mac go into his personal life. "Well, maybe it is someone you didn't date," Jo said. "Maybe it was someone who wanted to date you and you didn't give her the time of day."

"What about that reporter who had the hots for you a while?" Lindsey asked.

Mac scowled at her. "I don't think she would stoop to this," he said. "No, it would have to be someone else and it would have to be someone who could get access to my apartment, but I have never given anyone a key to my apartment except Sheldon. Peyton never even had a key and I know Sheldon didn't let anyone have that key because he gave it back."

"Just think," Jo said. "Have there been any women who flirted with you there where you live?"

Mac frowned and rubbed his face. "My head hurts," he said. "I've been thinking about this all day."

Just then, Mac's phone rang. He took it off his side and answered, "Taylor."

"Mac, I thought you were staying home today," Christine said.

Mac slapped his forehead. "I forgot about that," he said. "I'm sorry. I should have called you." He walked away from Jo and Lindsey. "Something's happened. I'm at the office."

"What happened?"

"I wasn't sick this morning…or I mean, I didn't have the flu or anything."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll try to explain it to you. I didn't even realize it was lunch time already."

"I had you a good plate fixed here."

"I'm sure you do. I'm in a situation."

"You want me to come there?"

Mac considered that. He thought he would like nothing better. "Sure," he said. "Come to my office."

"I'll be there."

Mac put his phone away and walked back over to Jo and Lindsey. "I'll keep trying to remember," he said.

"Maybe you should stop thinking about it for a while and let your mind relax," Jo said. "Sometimes that helps."

"I think I need some aspirin and I've been thirsty all day."

"I'm not surprised. That's one of the side-effects of that drug."

"Christine is coming by. She was going to come to the apartment today because she thought I was sick." Mac frowned.

"You think someone has your apartment bugged?" Lindsey asked.

"I don't know. I'm just confused about this whole thing. I want to know what happened and how and why it happened. I don't remember anything."

"Just stop thinking about it for a while," Jo said. "Let your mind rest."

"I'll try."

Mac went to his office and sat down in his chair. He leaned back and closed his eyes a moment. He felt exhausted. His joints ached and he felt so tired he thought he could go to sleep now. He tried not to think about anything. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly trying to relax his whole body…

Christine walked out of the elevator and walked over to Mac's office. She thought he looked like he was asleep. She went on into the office and discovered that he was, indeed, asleep. She walked over to him and kissed him. Mac was a little startled but he realized Christine was there. "I guess I fell asleep," he said. "I guess that relaxation technique worked."

"I guess it did," Christine replied. "How do you feel?"

Mac shook his head. "I don't know," he said. He looked at her. "Something strange happened to me last night and I didn't know about it until I went to the doctor."

Christine sat down in a chair beside Mac. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "They found ecstacy in my…system."

Christine looked surprised. "What?"

"Apparently, someone got into my apartment last night and gave me ecstacy and they were there again this morning because they changed the sheets on the bed."

"Mac, how could this happen?"

"I'm just as bewildered as you are. I don't know and I don't know who would do it or why."

Christine was not sure what to say. "And you don't know anything that happened?" she asked.

"No. The last thing I remember was getting into bed. I laid there and…" Mac looked at her. "And I thought of you until I fell asleep."

Christine smiled. "Now, you're just trying to make me blush."

Mac smiled. "Well, I did."

"Oh, I believe you. What do you think I think about when I'm going to sleep?"

"What?"

"I think about kissing you and…do you really want me to tell you what women think about?"

"No, not really." Mac smiled but then his smile faded. "I just wish I knew what was going on with this. It gives me the creeps to think that someone's been in my apartment and…I don't know what else they did."

Christine touched his face. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I'm confused. I don't know what to do. I'm just shocked and…" Mac looked out the door and saw the chief coming that way.

Christine saw Mac's frown deepen and she looked to see what he was looking at. She looked at Mac. "You want me to go?" she asked.

"You better," Mac said. He kissed her. "I'll see you this evening."

"Okay."

Christine walked out the door as the Chief was coming in. He nodded to her and went on into the office. "Mac," he said.

"Chief," Mac replied.

Chief Sinclair sat down on the couch. "I guess you know why I'm here," he said.

Mac nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Well, I need to hear some sort of explanation."

"I don't have one. I don't know what happened to me last night but I know I did not take ecstacy."

Sinclair rubbed his face and looked at Mac. "You know what the normal protocol is for something like this," he said.

Mac frowned as he was playing with the pen on his desk. "Chief, you know good and well that I would not do something like that," he said. "You know me."

Sinclair nodded. "Unfortunately, I am not the only one involved in this," he said. "IA is going to be paying you a visit. I hope that you have some kind of proof that this was not something you did on your own."

"I did this morning but when I got back to my apartment, it was gone. Whoever was there last night was there this morning while I was gone to the doctor's office."

"Mac, you know that sounds farfetched. Anyone who hears that is going to think you're just making up something and you don't have any proof to sustain that."

"I know but I'm telling you, I did not take any drugs. I don't remember anything that happened. I went home and went to bed."

"Where were you before that?"

"I was at a play with Christine. Plenty of people saw us there. I took her home, came here for a while and then I went home."

"So you were alone after you left here."

"Yes. This had to happen after I left here."

"What time did you leave here?"

Mac considered that. "I guess around eleven. I got up at six this morning and I thought I was coming down with the flu or something. I was taking the day off and I went to the doctor and that was when they found the drug in my system. Do you think I would have done that if I had known I took drugs?"

Sinclair stared at Mac. "It doesn't matter what I think. Anybody could say that you did that so you would look like you didn't know it and so you could make up this story."

Mac leaned back in his chair. "You know that is not true," he said.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter what I think."

"But you can speak for me. They will listen to you."

"I will, Mac, but you know there's going to be an investigation into this."

Mac nodded. "I know it."

"I just hope you find an explanation for this or it could get ugly."

Sinclair stood up. "Don't say too much," he said. "Just find some proof. There must be something."

Mac looked at him. "Thanks," he said.

The chief left. Mac sat there a moment thinking. He would have to take his team to his apartment and go over it to see if there were any fingerprints there. He did not want to but he would have to. He needed their help.


	4. Chapter 4

Mac, Jo and Sheldon arrived at Mac's apartment. Sheldon began dusting the front door for prints. "I know you'll find mine there," Mac said.

"Yeah," Sheldon replied. "But hopefully, the prints of the one who did this will be there too."

"You might find Christine's there too."

"I guess we will have to print her to isolate hers," Jo said.

When Sheldon had lifted the prints from the outside of the door, they went in. They all stopped in shock at what they were seeing. The room was filled with candles and roses of all colors. "Oh, Mac," Jo said. "You have definitely got a secret admirer."

Mac looked at her. "More than that," he said.

They went into the bedroom where there were more white candles lit around the room and red rose petals scattered all over the bed and in a trail to the bathroom. Jo took pictures of everything and then they went into the bathroom. "I Love You" was written on the mirror in red lipstick with a heart in place of "Love". "Mac, who is this?" Jo asked. She looked at him.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I promise you, I don't know."

"Well, she obviously knows you."

The bathtub was also strewn with red rose petals and there were red candles sitting on the rail. "I want all these candles blown out," Mac said. "I guess I will have to change all the locks on this apartment."

"I would definitely do that," Jo said as she was taking pictures.

Mac walked back out into his bedroom. One of his dress shirts was lying in the floor between the bed and the closet. He looked at it. "Jo," he said.

"Just a minute," Jo said. "I'm still taking pictures in here."

Mac put on some gloves and waited for Jo to take pictures of the shirt. She came in there. "Get this," he said.

Jo took the pictures and then Mac picked the shirt up. He smelled of it. "Whoever it was had this on," he said and looked at Jo.

"Maybe she left a piece of herself behind," Jo said and put the shirt in an evidence bag.

They stood and looked at the room. "Who would do something like this?" Jo wondered out loud. "This is invasion." She looked at Mac who looked sad. "What will she do next?"

"Maybe this is all," Mac said.

"I can't agree with that, Mac. Usually if someone is obsessed with a person, they don't give up easily."

"She might as well give up. Christine is the only woman that I want."

Jo looked at him. "Are you going to propose?" she asked.

Mac looked at her knowing that he had sparked her curiosity. "Probably."

"Oh, Mac, what do you mean 'probably'?"

Mac smiled. "I know I will but I don't know when. I guess I'm still trying to get up the nerve."

Jo smiled. "You're nervous?"

"Yes, I'm nervous."

"You better make it romantic. That woman deserves it for putting up with you."

Mac scowled at her. "What do you mean 'putting up with me'?"

"You're one of the most close-mouthed people I have ever seen. I don't know how you got this far."

Mac shrugged. "I guess I'm irresistible."

Jo's mouth dropped open as she saw that amused smile on Mac's face. "I'm going to tell her you said that," she said.

Mac's smile faded and he looked at Jo. She realized she said the wrong thing. "I'm sorry," she said. "I will not tell her anything."

"I was only kidding," Mac said.

"I know that, but…maybe you are irresistible."

Mac shook his head. "I think it's just right and we just have to make up our minds to go on with it."

"Love is so wonderful."

Jo went on with her work collecting evidence. Mac looked around the room and looked under the bed but he did not find anything. "It doesn't look like she got into the bed," he said.

"No, it looks like she just strewed rose petals all over it," Jo replied.

Sheldon was looking at the flowers in the living room. He shook his head and looked for a card. There was a card on one of the bouquets so he took it off. Mac came in there. "You want to look at this?" Sheldon asked.

Mac took the card and opened it. He rolled his eyes at the card which said: _I love you and cherish the time we had together._ Mac was disgusted with this whole situation. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.

Sheldon did not know what to say to that. "This must be someone you know," he said.

Mac scratched his head trying to think. "I don't know anyone who would do this."

"Well, obviously this is not something normal and I'm sure they would not want you to know they would do it. Have you met any women lately who were particularly friendly, or smiling at you?"

Jo walked in just as he was asking that. "There's a problem with that question, Sheldon," she said. "Men never know when a woman is flirting with them."

Mac looked at her. "I reckon I do," he said.

"You notice when Christine is flirting with you because she has your attention, but any other woman…you wouldn't know it."

Mac shook his head. "Well, so what? I don't remember any women flirting with me."

"Maybe you helped some woman somewhere on the job," Sheldon said.

Mac considered that. "I help a lot of people."

"But have you particularly had to help some woman somewhere?" Jo asked.

"Jo, I see a lot of people in a day, and I help a lot of them."

"Concentrate on the women you've helped. Have any of them been particularly grateful, offered you dinner, a drink, offered to pay you, or anything like that?"

Mac scowled as he thought about that. "I did help this woman one day when she thought someone had broken into her apartment," he said. "But that was a while back."

"Does she live in this building?" Jo asked.

"Yes, she lives down the hall around the corner. She knew I was a detective and she wanted me to come over there and look through her apartment because the door was unlocked."

"Did she flirt with you when you were there? Did she fling her hair or smile at you a lot or offer you dinner or anything?"

"Well, she smiled at me but I wouldn't say it was any friendlier than your smile. She didn't offer me anything."

"Did you see her again after that?"

"The next morning, we went to the elevator at the same time and she told me how much she appreciated me helping her."

"Did she hand on your arm or give you flirtatious looks?"

Mac shook his head. "No, she just talked to me until we got down to the parking garage," he said.

"Did she want you to walk her to her car?" Jo asked.

"Jo, just because someone is grateful for something doesn't mean they're obsessed."

"I know, Mac, but I'm trying to figure out who could have done all this."

"Well, don't go accusing people of stuff like this until you have some sort of link between them."

"We have to have suspects. What was this woman's name?"

Mac looked at her. "Are you really going to check her out for this?" he asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Her name is Mindy Peters," Mac said. "I don't think she would do this. She's a businesswoman."

"Oh, did she tell you about her business?"

"She owns a beauty salon and markets a line of beauty products."

Jo looked around the room. "Beauty, huh?"

Mac frowned. "Jo."

"I'm very suspicious until I find some facts."

Jo wrote down the apartment number for the woman and then went on with her evidence collection. Mac helped to collect all the evidence. "She obviously took a bath in this tub," Jo said as she was collecting the rose petals from the bathtub.

"She must have taken the towel with her," Mac said.

"Whoever she is, she knows something about evidence."

Mac looked at Jo. "Hmmm, it could be you then," he said to see her reaction.

Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "If I had a crush on you, you would know it," she informed him.

Mac smiled. "Okay then."

They finished with the evidence collection and then headed back to the lab, except for Mac. He wanted to clean his apartment but he was not sure he should do that. They might have to look for something else, but if he cleaned it, he might find anything that they overlooked.

While Mac was doing that, his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac," Chief Sinclair said. "I need to see you in my office."

Mac looked at his watch. It was around 3:00. "I'll be there," he said.

Mac changed into a sweatshirt and jeans. It was cold outside and he was tired of being cold. When he was dressed, he went to the chief's office. "Afternoon, Mac," Chief Sinclair said.

"Afternoon," Mac replied.

"I understand you have a stalker."

"Well, it looks like it, but I would call it more like an obsession."

"You got any idea who it is?"

"No, sir, I sure don't. Whoever it is has access to my apartment, and I don't know how they gained that."

"So, they gave you drugs and now they've been in your apartment again…according to what I've learned from Detective Danville."

"Yes. She's been there again and decorated my apartment with roses and candles, took a bath in my tub and wore one of my shirts."

"It does look like obsession," Chief Sinclair said.

"So, are you going to suspend me?" Mac asked.

Sinclair leaned back in his chair. "No," he said. "IA wants me to but since you have found all this proof that someone has been in your apartment, I am inclined to believe you and they can stay off your back."

"Well, thanks, Chief."

"I would like for you to take a day or two off though, just so you won't be here under their scrutiny."

Mac looked at him. "You're not suspending me but you're making me take two days off?"

"I'm not making you, I'm asking you to until this blows over."

Mac considered that. "I wanted to help with this investigation," he said. "I don't want this situation to get out of control. I want to find out who this is and get it stopped."

"I'm sure your team will keep you informed."

Mac sighed. "I'm sure they will."

Mac left that office and went to his own office. "You found anything?" Mac asked as he walked into the lab.

"There was a trace of DNA on the shirt," Lindsey said. "I'm running it but I'm not sure there is enough to get a reading. There were some fingerprints on the candles but they don't show up in the system."

Mac looked at the fingerprint readouts. "They're all from the same person but no one who's in the system," he said. "So this can't be anyone who has been involved in a case before."

"I guess not."

Jo came over to them. "I think it's someone who lives in your building," she said.

"Jo, how would they get access to my apartment? They didn't break in and there's no sign that they used anything other than a key."

"You should talk to your landlord and find out if there has been anyone in his apartment or if he has visited someone or found his keys missing."

Mac nodded. "I guess I will," he said. "The chief wants me to take a day or two off, although he is not suspending me."

Mac's phone rang. He answered it without looking at who it was. "Taylor."

"Hi, Mac," someone whispered.

"Who is this?"

"Your secret admirer."

Mac frowned. "You broke into my apartment."

"I just wanted to feel close to you and I enjoyed our time together."

"Who are you? What are you talking about?"

"You're so handsome and hot."

Mac scowled at that comment. "You need to stop this now," he said. "I already have a girlfriend."

"But you will love me."

"No I won't. You stop harassing me or you will wind up in jail."

"I don't think you would put me in jail."

"Don't bet on it."

"You'll come to love me…one way or another."

The call ended and Mac looked at the phone. Of course there was no number or caller ID. "Was that her?" Jo asked.

"Yes," Mac said and looked at them. "I don't know who this is but she thinks she knows me and keeps talking about the 'time we had together'. I don't know what this is about."

Jo considered that. "Why would she drug you with a drug like ecstacy?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "I don't know," he said.

"You don't remember anything that happened that night."

Mac frowned. "What are you suggesting?"

"You don't know what happened, Mac. She may be referring to that. She was obviously there."

"Are you saying that…" Mac was starting to get upset.

Jo hated this situation. "You know what that drug does to people," she said and whatever else was mixed in caused you to forget it."

Mac frowned. "I have to go home," he said. "Keep me informed."

Mac turned and walked to the elevator. He wanted to make sure no one else got into his apartment. He would change all those locks but he would go and talk to his landlord first.


	5. Chapter 5

Mac arrived at his landlord's apartment. He knocked on the door hoping that the man was there. He waited and finally the door opened. "Mr. Taylor," the landlord said. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a problem," Mac said. "Someone has been getting into my apartment and they drugged me and she was in there today again, and she had the place decorated with roses and candles."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know. I want to know if you have had your keys missing or anything."

The landlord considered that a moment. "About two weeks ago, my keys went missing for a day or two and I found them outside my door."

"Didn't you think that was odd?"

"Yeah, but I figured someone found them and brought them back. I didn't know who did it."

Mac frowned. "Well, somebody got those keys and they have a key to my apartment."

Just then, a woman came into the door. She was the landlord's wife. "Alfred, what is going on?" she asked and then looked at Mac. She smiled and looked him up and down. "Who is this?"

"This is Mr. Taylor," Alfred said. He looked at Mac. "This is my wife, Teresa." He looked at his wife. "Someone has a key to his apartment and they've been sneaking in."

"Oh, that is just terrible," Teresa said. "Did they steal anything?"

"No," Mac said. "I don't think so, but they invaded my privacy and wore one of my shirts."

"You must have a secret admirer if they would do all that."

"Admirer is one thing, but when someone breaks into your home and invades your privacy, it is not a secret admirer, it is an obsessed person and they need mental care."

"Look, I don't know anything about this," Alfred said.

Mac sighed. "Will you just take better care of your keys?" he asked. "I'm going to change all the locks on my door."

"Are you going to give me copies?"

"Not until all this is over. Thanks for your time."

Mac walked away from there. He could not believe it. That guy was too careless. He did not remember him being so careless, but he did not think the man was married before either and that woman looked like she was young enough to be his daughter. He supposed the man was distracted. He went to his apartment hoping that no one had been in there again. He walked in but there was no sign that anyone had been in there.

Mac locked the door and then got his phone and called a locksmith. He went into the kitchen and drank a bottle of water and then his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac, do you want me to come over this evening?" Christine asked.

"We're going out," Mac said. "I will pick you up."

"Oh really? Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Okay, I'll be ready."

"I'll be there around seven."

"Okay."

Before Mac could get his phone back on his side, it was ringing again. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac," someone whispered.

Mac frowned. "Who is this?" he asked.

"Oh you always ask that. Don't you like the mystery?"

"NO I don't."

"I enjoyed wearing your shirt. It was so soft and smooth just like…"

"Stop it!" Mac said. "You better stay away from my apartment and you better stop calling this phone!"

"Oh, you don't mean that."

"Yes I do! You stop harassing me or I'm going to find out who you are and you're going to jail for breaking and entering!"

"Don't worry, I'll let you know who I am once you get used to the idea of having me around."

Mac frowned. "I don't want you around! You're crazy!"

"I am not!"

Mac thought she almost said that out loud. "Why don't you talk out loud?" he asked.

"Because you would recognize my voice."

"How would I? I don't know you!"

"You do know me…you just don't know it yet. We had a hot time together…"

"Stop that! I don't know you and I have not been with you! You stay away from me and stop calling me!" Mac hung up the phone but it started ringing again right after he put it on his side. It was the same "Unknown" caller. He just ignored the call but before he got into his bedroom, the phone started ringing again.

Mac thought about turning his phone off but the others would need to call him. However, they could call his home phone. He turned the cell phone off and called Jo on his other phone and told her that they should call that number if they wanted to talk to him.

Mac hung up the phone and started to take off his jacket but before he could move, the phone started ringing again. He stared at it and picked it up. "Hello," he answered.

"You can't get away from me," the woman whispered.

Mac slammed the phone down. He hated being harassed on the phone. He took his jacket off and hung it in the closet. Then he noticed that his Marine uniform was gone. He searched through the clothes but it was not there. He could not believe anyone would steal that. He had not noticed it missing before. He had not even looked in the closet. Someone had asked him if anything was missing…who was that? That landlord's wife…she had asked him if anything was missing. He had not thought anything was missing.

Mac sat down on his bed and thought. He did not think that woman who had asked him to look through her apartment would do something like this. She was a businesswoman. Maybe she had flirted with him a little but that did not make her obsessed. He did not care what Jo said. That woman was not the type to do this and he did not know how she would wind up with the key to his apartment.

The locksmith soon arrived and changed all the locks on Mac's doors. Mac paid him and he left. He hated getting new locks. He had to change all the keys on his keychain. He did that and put the old keys and locks away. He supposed he would never use them again but he always liked to keep them for a while. If the new ones did not work right, he could put the others back for a while. They would be better than no locks at all.

Mac got a shower and got ready to go and pick up Christine. He got his cell phone and turned it back on. He put it on vibrate. It was getting close to time for him to go. He supposed it did not matter if he arrived a little early.

Mac went out into the hall and locked all those locks on his door. He started for the elevator and then he heard someone say "Detective Taylor".

Mac looked around to see Mindy Peters coming that way. He could not help but feel apprehensive about her. She walked over to him. "I'm heading down to the parking garage," she said. "I thought I would ride down with you."

"Sure," Mac said.

"Are you heading out for a date?"

Mac looked at her. "Yes, I'm picking someone up."

"I'm going to meet someone about a new deal for my salon. I'm going to have sunbeds installed. I'm moving up."

"Congratulations. I'm glad you're moving up."

Mindy looked at him. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You seem quiet."

"I'm sorry. I've been having some problems."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Someone broke into my apartment."

Mindy looked at him looking very surprised. "Did you find out who did it?" she asked.

"No, it's an on-going investigation."

Mac pressed the elevator button. "Someone knocked on my apartment door the other night," Mindy said. "When I opened the door, no one was there. That just makes me nervous."

"When was this?" Mac asked.

"Last night." Mindy looked at Mac. "I think we have a prankster in this building. This is supposed to be an upscale apartment building. If it keeps being like this, I think I'm going to move."

Mac scowled. "Did you think someone had been in your apartment before?" he asked.

Mindy folded her arms. "I've thought someone had been there before. Sometimes I just feel downright eerie when I'm going to bed, and sometimes I get phone calls and no one says anything."

"Have you reported this?"

"To who? The police don't respond to things like that. They would think I was crazy."

"Well, I'm getting harassing phone calls and today my apartment was decorated with roses and candles."

Mindy looked at him with a troubled look. "They went into your apartment and did all that?" she asked.

"Somebody did and they've been calling me today too."

The elevator opened and they stepped in. Mindy was quiet a moment. "Why would they be harassing both of us?" she asked.

"Maybe they want us to move," Mac said. "Maybe they think we're seeing each other." Mac looked at her. "Have you met any women who acted strange who live here?"

Mindy thought a moment. "If you ask me, that wife of the landlord is strange enough for us all," she said. "I don't think she ever wears clothes. She is always dressed in one of those feathery, sheer robes and silk nightgowns."

Mac remembered that Teresa had something like that on when he was up at the landlord's apartment. "I haven't seen her many times," he said.

"Well, I've seen her because I went to complain to the landlord about some things and she is always dressed like that and with those heels on. Makes you wonder if they just have sex all the time." Mindy put her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Don't worry about it," Mac said. "I've heard a lot worse."

"Oh I guess you have."

They arrived at the parking garage. "I'm glad I don't have to walk to my car alone," Mindy said.

"You should be careful," Mac said.

Mac watched her get into her car and then he got into his Avalanche. He sat there a moment. He knew Mindy did not do any of this. It had to be someone else. He thought about what she said about Teresa, the landlord's young wife. She did act strange, and she definitely had access to the keys of the apartments. Would she do something like that? He had never met that woman many times, but he had to remember how she had looked at him when he was up there earlier.

Mac arrived at Christine's apartment building and went up to her apartment. He knocked and soon she came to the door. "Hi," she said. "You're lucky I don't have a tight schedule with all these surprise dates," she said.

Mac smiled. "I just wanted to see you," he said.

Christine turned around showing him her blue dress she was wearing. "So, how do you like it?" she asked.

"Beautiful."

"Come in, I have to get my things."

Mac stood and waited for Christine. "You're a little early," she said as she was coming back into the living room.

"Well, I guess I was in a hurry."

Christine smiled and came over to him. "That's fine." She kissed him. "Where are we going?"

Mac smiled. "I'm not telling you. You'll have to wait until we're there."

"Can I at least know what we're going to eat?"

"Something very expensive."

"Oh? Like what?"

Mac smiled and put his arm around her. "Let's go," he said.

Mac got her coat and helped her get it on and then they went down to the Avalanche. As Mac was driving, he was thinking about what happened that day. He looked at Christine. "That woman broke into my apartment again," he said.

"What?" Christine asked.

"Today when I got back to the apartment, there were roses and candles all over the apartment. She had taken a bath in my tub and had worn one of my shirts."

Christine frowned. "What did you do?"

"They're analyzing all the evidence but I don't think they're going to find anything to lead to anyone. There were fingerprints but the woman has not been in the system."

"So she drugged you and now she has broken into your apartment. What's next?"

"I don't know," Mac said. "She's been calling me and harassing me too."

"This is terrible. What does she say?"

"She thinks she's in love with me and thinks she's going to have me. I don't know who this is or why she thinks this. She whispers when she calls."

Christine did not like this situation. It made her uncomfortable. She had been harassed before and it was not funny. "So where are we going?" she asked to change the subject.

"A very nice restaurant," Mac said.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Christine was surprised that it was a gourmet restaurant and they also served seafood. They got out and went into the restaurant where Mac had reservations. They were seated at a table beside the window that had a view of the Empire State Building which had its new lights going now. "I thought it was beautiful before but it is even more beautiful now," Christine said.

"It's definitely colorful," Mac replied.

Christine looked at him. Her face and hair were highlighted by the candlelight in the place although there were dim lights as well. "Are you feeling romantic tonight?" she asked.

"Have I never been romantic before?" Mac asked.

"Oh of course. You're so charming."

Mac reached into his coat pocket and felt of the box he had hidden there. "I'm going to order a lobster," he said.

Christine smiled. "I kinda like shrimp better," she said.

"Lots of butter."

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"I'm trying to be something besides nervous."

"Why are you nervous?"

"Well, that situation I've been in has been making me nervous."

"It would make anyone nervous."

They ordered their meals and then sat there talking. Mac squirmed in his chair and thought about what he wanted to say. "What are you doing?" Christine asked.

"What do you mean?" Mac asked.

"You're squirming."

Mac tried to sit still. He looked at her. "What do you see yourself doing in the future?" he asked.

Christine considered that. "I don't know," she said. "I would like to have a bigger restaurant and have people do stuff for me rather than having to do it myself."

"Here in New York?"

"Who knows? What if I had the chance to branch out somewhere else?"

Mac's smile faded slightly. "You want to move?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know. It's just a dream."

Mac was not so sure of himself now. He had thought she wanted to settle down here, but then again, maybe he would want to move too. He would go wherever she went.

Christine noticed Mac's silence. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"A lot of things," Mac said.

"Like what?"

Mac thought a moment. He was not sure whether he wanted to give her his gift or not. "Do you ever think of getting married?" he asked.

Christine looked at him a moment. "Of course," she said. "Do you?"

"Sure I do. I was married once. I would like that again."

"Is this leading to something?"

Mac looked at her. He took the small box from his pocket and held it over the table. "I've been thinking about this for quite a while," he said. "I wanted to make this special."

Christine stared at him. Her heart was racing and she wanted to just grab him and kiss him. "Anytime I'm with you is special, Mac."

Mac opened the box. "Christine, you fill the hole in my life and I don't want to ever lose you," he said. "Will you marry me?"

Christine thought she was not breathing. "Yes I will," she said and held out her hand.

Mac slid the ring onto her finger. Christine looked at it with admiring eyes. "It's beautiful," she said and looked at Mac.

"You're beautiful and I love you," Mac said.

"And I love you."

Soon, their meals arrived. Mac looked at the lobster. "Well, I haven't eaten one of these in a long time," he said.

"Oh, I don't even remember the last time," Christine replied.

"Since I'm driving, I guess I will have to pass on the wine," Mac said. He was not sure he wanted to drink anything like that anyway. He certainly did not want to forget what he was doing again.

"We can drink some when we get back to my apartment."

Mac noticed she said "we". "I'm glad I didn't have the flu," he said. "But I sure have gotten into a lot of trouble."

Mac sipped his water. He had decided he would drink water since he could not drink wine and was in no mood to drink wine. He did not think he had ever ate lobster and drank water with it before but when he went out alone, he…well, he usually did not eat lobster when he went out alone and that was what he had been doing for the last…six years, he supposed. Now, he had asked Christine to marry him.

Mac almost dropped his fork and looked at Christine. He thought he had been in a daze all day but maybe he was waking up. He did ask her to marry him.

Christine looked at Mac. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes," Mac said. "I'm just…I don't know." He drank some more of his water.

When they were done eating, they headed back to Christine's apartment. Christine leaned on Mac's shoulder as he was driving. "Mac," she said as she was admiring her ring.

"What?" Mac asked.

"What kind of wedding do we want?"

"I don't know. What kind do you want?" Mac rubbed his eyes. He thought he was getting a little tired.

"Why don't we have a big beautiful wedding?"

"If that's what you want."

"I want a beautiful dress and a lot of flowers."

"You can have whatever you want."

Christine smiled. "Are you just agreeing with me because you want me to marry you or do you mean that?" she asked.

"I want you to be happy."

"I would be happy if we went to a minister's office and stood in front of his desk and got married."

"Me too."

Christine smiled at his agreeable attitude. They soon arrived at her apartment building and went inside. They got into the elevator. Mac looked at Christine. "You're so beautiful," he said.

"Mac, you're just trying to be charming," Christine said.

Mac touched her face and her hair. "Golden hair." He pulled the pin from her hair so that it fell around her shoulders.

"Mac, you could have waited until we got into the apartment. My hair looks funny when it first comes down."

"It's beautiful."

Christine looked at him a moment. "Mac, are you alright?"

The elevator doors opened. Christine grabbed Mac's hand and they headed for her apartment. Mac did not say a word while they were going down the hall. He just stood there while she unlocked the door. "Are you coming in?" she asked.

"If you want me to," Mac said.

"Of course."

Mac followed her into the apartment. He just stood there and watched her while she took her coat off and hung it up. She stopped and looked at him as he was just standing there staring at her. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"How beautiful you are," Mac said. "You look like you have light coming from your skin and hair."

Christine stared at him a moment. "Mac, come and sit down."

Mac followed her to the sofa and they sat down. He leaned toward her and ran his fingers through her hair and then kissed her but he did not stop. Christine thought he was awfully aggressive tonight but when he put his hand where it did not belong, she pushed him away. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Mac grabbed her in his arms in a tight embrace and kissed her again. Christine finally got out of his grip and stood up. "Mac, what is wrong with you?" she asked.

Mac stood up. "I want you," he said.

Christine was starting to get a little scared. She remembered what he said about being drugged. "Mac, are you feeling alright?" she asked.

"Oh, I feel better than I have in a long time."

Christine knew something was wrong now. "Why don't you sit down and I'll go and get us something to drink?" she asked trying to get away to get a phone.

"Why don't we just lose control right here or we can go to your bed?"

"Mac Taylor."

Mac moved closer to her but Christine backed away. "Don't you come near me," she said. She knew Mac was under the influence of something but she did not know how he got it or what she was going to do. "Mac, think about what you're doing."

"Oh, I'm thinking about it alright."

Christine could not believe what she was hearing as Mac came toward her again. She moved around the sofa wondering what he would do if she tried to get her phone. She thought maybe she would have to trick him.

"Mac, you stay right here and I'm going to get into something sexier," Christine said. "When I'm ready for you, I'll call you."

Mac stopped and looked at her. "Sure," he said.

Christine backed toward her room. "Just stay right there," she said.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Christine went into her room and locked the door. She started crying then and ran to her phone. She knew who she had to call. They would know what to do to help him.


	6. Chapter 6

Jo was standing in her bathroom brushing her hair when her phone rang. She picked it up and answered it, "Hello."

"Jo, this is Christine!"

Jo could hear the panic in Christine's voice. "What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong with Mac. He's acting strange and I think he's been drugged again! He's here at my apartment and I don't know what to do. I'm scared. I don't want to hurt him."

Jo was heading for her bedroom. "Just try and keep him calm," she said. "We will be there as soon as we can get there."

"How do I keep him calm? It was all I could do to get away from him. He's in the living room and I'm locked in the bedroom."

"Just try and keep him calm. We will be there. I have to go so I can call some others."

"Please hurry."

Jo ended that call and called Don. "Don, we have a situation!" Jo said when Don answered.

Christine was holding her phone and pacing back and forth. She leaned on the bedroom door and listened but she did not hear anything. Then she heard Mac say, "Christine", right outside the door.

Christine gasped and moved away from the door. She had never been around anyone on drugs before but she knew someone had to slip that on Mac. She tried to think of what all happened at the restaurant. It had to happen there and she remembered how he acted on the way back to the apartment.

"Let me in," Mac said outside the door.

"I'm not ready yet," Christine said.

"You don't need anything on. I just want to make love to you."

Christine wanted to cry. She knew he was not saying that on his own because he would not just say that. She wished Jo and the others would hurry and get there. Mac shook the door knob. "Come on, unlock this door," he said.

Christine knew he could break that door down if he wanted to. "You wouldn't want me to come out before I'm ready, would you?" she asked.

"I don't care whether you're ready or not…"

Christine was shocked at what Mac started saying after that. She opened the door and looked at him. "Mac, you are a dirty-mouthed pig," she said.

Mac just stared at her. "But you would want me to…"

Christine covered his mouth. "Don't say that anymore," she said. She wanted to get away from him when he put his arms around her but she did not think Mac would hurt her even if he was under the influence of some drug. "Mac, you're not yourself, snap out of this."

Mac stared at her a moment and then he stepped back with a puzzled look on his face. "What's going on?" he asked as though he just realized where he was.

"Mac, you've been drugged again," Christine said when she saw that he knew what was going on.

Mac moved away from her. "You're just trying to trick me," he said. "If you don't want me, why don't you just say so!"

"Mac…"

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say. You pretend that you want me and you don't!"

"That is not true. You don't know what you're doing."

"I knew what I was doing." Mac walked over to her.

"Now, Mac, don't do anything you'll regret."

"I won't regret it."

Christine gasped as Mac picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. "Mac, you put me down!" she demanded.

"I will," Mac said and dropped her on the bed.

Christine saw him sway on his feet. "Mac, you can't do this," she said. "I don't want you to."

Mac stared at her and shook his head. "You do want me to, you just don't realize it," he said. "I proposed to you."

"That doesn't mean we're going to do this," Christine said. "Don't you remember? You said you wanted us to take our time and let our love grow?"

Mac frowned. "Yes, I remember that," he said. He shook his head again and almost fell backward.

Christine grabbed his jacket to keep him from falling. "Mac, why don't you just lie down here?" she asked.

Mac practically fell on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "The ceiling is breathing," he said.

"You'll be alright," she said with tears streaming down her face.

Mac looked at her. "You're so beautiful," he said.

Christine thought he meant that. She wiped tears off her face. Mac touched her face. "Don't cry," he said. "Did I scare you?"

"You just lie here and rest," Christine said.

Mac watched her get off the bed. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm just going over here."

Mac stared at the designs on the bed comforter. He thought they were dancing around him. Christine watched him as he stared at the bed and then seemed to be touching things in the air. She was trying to stop crying but she hated that this was happening to Mac.

Suddenly, Mac sat up on the bed and screamed. He jumped up and stood up on the bed and backed against the wall. "Spiders!" he yelled.

Christine stared at him and did not know what to do. She wished Jo and the others would hurry and get there. All she could do was watch as he was trying to get away from something and then he jumped off the bed. "We have to get out of here!" Mac exclaimed and grabbed Christine's arm.

"Mac, there are no spiders!" she said.

Mac pulled her into the living room. He stopped and grabbed his head. "What is happening to me?" he asked as he fell to the floor. He stared at his hands as they looked like black holes were forming in his hands.

Christine was crying again and wishing that Jo and the others would get there. She was glad he at least had not gotten violent but she was afraid he would if this continued. She watched as Mac seemed to be in pain and agony on the floor.

Jo was on her way to Christine's apartment and so was Don Flack. Sheldon was on his way there too. He had been at the lab when this started. They soon arrived and ran into the building. "Did she call again?" Don asked.

"No," Jo replied as they were running toward the elevator. "From what she said it's pretty bad though."

They got into the elevator and went up to the right floor. As they got to the door of Christine's apartment, they heard Mac scream inside and Christine screamed as well. Don knocked on the door. "Christine, it's us!" Jo called.

Christine heard Jo at the door. She ran for the door but Mac was behind her and grabbed her. "NO!" he yelled. "They're tricking us!"

"Mac, it's Jo!" Christine said.

"NO! It's the enemy!"

Christine had watched Mac go from thinking he was in pain to thinking he was in the war. "Mac, they're here to help you!" Christine said as Mac was practically dragging her toward the bedroom.

"They don't want to help us! They want to kill us!" Mac insisted.

Christine looked toward the door. "I can't get to the door!" she yelled.

Mac grabbed her mouth and kept pulling her toward the bedroom. "Shhhh!" he hissed. "They want to kill us!"

Christine shook her head as Mac had his hand over her mouth. He finally got her to the bedroom door and then Don kicked the front door open. Mac got Christine into the bedroom as the others were coming in the door. "Mac!" Jo yelled. "Stop!"

"You can't fool me!" Mac yelled and slammed the bedroom door.

"Mac, they're here to help you," Christine said as he let go of her.

Mac was standing in front of the door breathing as though he were scared to death. "Do you have a weapon?" he asked. "I lost mine!"

"No, I don't," Christine said. She was glad she did not have a weapon in her room.

"Then we'll have to improvise."

Jo and the others were in the living room. They were not sure what to do. Jo went over to the bedroom door. "Mac!" she said. "You need to come out!"

"You can't fool me!" Mac yelled. "You want to hurt us!"

"NO! We are here to help you!"

"Oh, he is really out of it," Sheldon said.

"He must think he's in the war," Don said.

"Mac, you're not in the war!" Jo yelled to him.

Mac moved over to Christine. "We have to find something to stop them," he said.

Christine watched in horror as Mac went toward the bathroom. She knew he knew how to make bombs and she was afraid he might find some household chemical or something in there and make one. She started for the door but then Mac whirled around. "Are you trying to betray me?" he asked.

Christine stopped in her tracks. "NO," she said. "I would never betray you."

Mac walked over to her. "You're a traitor," he said.

"Mac, I would never betray you. I'm trying to help you!"

"No, you're one of them." Mac grabbed her by the wrist and headed for the bathroom.

Christine did not know how to get away from him but she pulled back. "Let go of my arm!" she demanded.

Mac looked at her. "You are a traitor!" he declared.

Christine tried to get out of his grip but he tightened his grip. "Mac, we are not in a war!" she said.

Mac was not listening to that. As he was walking, he thought he was seeing anything but a bedroom. He thought he was in the desert and he went into the bathroom.

Just then, Don kicked the bedroom door open. Christine thought Mac would panic. He jerked her into the bathroom and shut the door. "Mac, you have to let them help you!" she said.

Mac got over to the cabinet and opened the doors. Christine unlocked the door and turned the knob slowly as she was watching Mac take bleach out of the cabinet and other cleaners that she had in there for the bathroom. She got the door open and got out quickly.

"Christine!" Mac yelled.

Jo, Don and Sheldon were waiting for her when she came out. Sheldon and Don went into the bathroom and found Mac pouring bleach into a cup. "Mac, stop!" Don yelled.

Don and Sheldon barely escaped getting a face full of bleach as Mac flung the contents of the cup at them. Don headed back in after the bleach had settled where it was going. He grabbed Mac but that was the wrong thing to do because Mac grabbed his arm and elbowed him in the nose. Then he tripped Don and jerked his legs from under him, causing him to fall and barely miss slamming his head into the tub.

Sheldon could not believe how fast that happened. Don was trying to get up but he was addled. Mac glared at Sheldon. Sheldon held up his hands trying to calm Mac down. "Mac, it's me, Sheldon," he said. "You're not in a war!"

Sheldon did not know what to do when Mac started toward him. "You're with the enemy!" he said.

Don was shaking his head and trying to get up. He knew they had to get Mac down or they could not get him under control. He was like a walking warpath himself. He did not want to hurt Mac, but he thought he might not have a choice. Mac was becoming agitated and he was dangerous.

Don finally got up as Mac still had his attention on Sheldon who was trying to talk sensibly to him. Don made his move before Mac could realize he was up. He grabbed Mac around the neck, but Mac elbowed him in the stomach so hard, Don thought he would die, but he held on. Mac got ready to elbow him again, but Sheldon grabbed his arms.

With a loud yell, Mac flipped Don over his shoulder and he landed almost on top of Sheldon. Don kept his bearings and grabbed Mac's leg and jerked it. Mac could not keep from falling right on his rear. Don got up as quick as he could and rolled Mac over on his stomach. Mac struggled hard but Don lay down on top of him. "Get those cuffs!" he yelled at Sheldon.

It was all Don could do to get Mac's arms around behind him. Mac struggled and got one of his hands away from Don and he tried to push himself over. Don was struggling to keep him on his stomach because Mac could not fight as well on his stomach. Sheldon got over there with the cuffs and put his weight on Mac too as they struggled to get the cuffs on him. "NO!" Mac yelled.

Don put his forearm down on Mac's head like he would do a criminal. "Mac, we're trying to help you," Don said.

"Don't talk to him," Sheldon whispered.

Don found that hard to do. He did not want to hurt Mac. They finally got the cuffs on Mac's wrists and made sure they were tight. Sheldon got over to the doctor's kit he had brought. "NOOO!" Mac screamed.

"Hurry!" Don yelled as he was having to hold Mac down alone again and that was not an easy task.

Sheldon got a syringe from the kit and filled it with a sedative. "Hold him," he said.

"NOOO!" Mac yelled and struggled even harder.

"I am!" Don said. He was using all his might to hold Mac down.

Sheldon got over to them. Mac was trying to use his feet now. "You're not giving that to me!" he yelled.

"It might not even work," Sheldon said to Don. "He's on something powerful."

Sheldon stuck the needle into Mac's neck so he would get it quickly. Mac screamed. "What are you doing to me!" he yelled. Then he relaxed and stared at the floor.

"Don't let him go yet," Sheldon said.

Mac finally closed his eyes and Sheldon checked to see if his pulse was slowing down. "We have to get some paramedics here now before this wears off," he said.

Don thought he would not be able to move. "Ow," he said as he looked at Sheldon.

Sheldon looked at Don's busted nose. "I'll look at that," he said.

Don got up slowly as he was getting his phone and called for paramedics and he also called for some backup. He wanted someone else there to help if they had to wrestle Mac down again.

Sheldon and Don looked down at Mac lying on the floor. They hated what they had to do to him. "We had to," Sheldon said. "He was dangerous to himself and everyone in that state of mind."

"I don't want to do that again," Don said.

"He's strong."

"You can say that again. I thought I wasn't going to be able to hold him."

Sheldon looked at Don's bloody nose and lips. "I think he loosened a tooth," Don said. He grimaced as he rubbed his stomach. "That hurt so bad. I thought he was going to kill me."

Jo came into the room and looked at Mac on the floor. "This is going to be hard on him," she said. "When he finds out what he did…"


	7. Chapter 7

Christine told Jo and the others everything that had happened as much as she could remember. She was still shaken up but she tried to remember everything that Mac had done. She told them where they went to eat and what they ate. "I think it started on the way back to my apartment," she said. "He just wasn't acting like himself. The things he was saying. It was like he wanted to agree with everything I said but he didn't put in any ideas of his own."

"Do you remember the people who served you at dinner?" Jo asked.

Christine thought a moment. "I was kinda distracted," she said and showed Jo the ring Mac had given her. "He proposed."

Jo looked at the ring and then looked at Christine. "Don't let what happened tonight cause you to pull away from him," she said.

Christine looked at Jo. "Nothing in this world could take me away from him," she said. "I love him, and I know that man who was there tonight is not the sweet, gentle man that I love."

Jo was surprised by that statement. She had seen women scared to death by something their husband or fiancé did and give them up even when it was not their fault. "You're right about that, and we're going to find the person responsible for this."

They went down to Mac's room. Christine went in and Jo stood with Don and Sheldon outside the room looking in. "Why would this stalker do this?" Sheldon asked. "I don't get it. If she wants Mac for herself, why would she do this to him when he was with Christine?"

"She probably thought she could make Christine afraid of him and she would leave him," Jo said. "I've got news for her. Nothing like this is going to come between that union." She looked at Don. "We are going to find out who is doing this and how they gave him those drugs. It had to happen at the restaurant. We're going to find out who is connected to someone who lives in Mac's apartment building." Jo looked into the room at Mac and Christine. "I am just totally MAD."

Don looked at Sheldon. "You know what they say about Southern women," Don remarked.

Jo turned to him and folded her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him. "And just what is that?" she asked.

"You don't want to get one of them mad," Don said as he took a step back. "Don't hit me. I already have a sore nose."

Jo smiled at him. "Come on."

Sheldon smiled at that exchange between Jo and Don but his smile faded as he looked in at Mac. He was glad Christine would stick by Mac's side. Mac was still sleeping but Sheldon knew when he woke up, he would still have to go through some withdrawal, although they were flushing his system as much as possible. They had checked Mac's blood and found that he had been given a cocktail of drugs rather than just one. Sheldon knew Mac could have died in that agitated state he was in. He had seen what drugs had done to so many people. He had seen people die in the ER from drugs, even when it was not an overdose.

Jo and Don went to the restaurant where Mac and Christine had eaten. The place was fairly empty now that it was so late. Jo walked over to the Host and showed him her badge. "I want to talk to you," she said. "I want to know who served Mac Taylor's table tonight."

The Host looked at her a moment and then looked at his records. "They were at table fifteen," he said. "They were served by Deborah and John."

"Who are Deborah and John?" Don asked. "We want to see them right now."

"Yes, sir."

Jo and Don followed the Host into the dining room and around to the kitchen area. There was an area there with tables and chairs and there were several people in there dressed in white waiter and waitress outfits. "Deborah and John, these two detectives are here to see you," the Host said as he announced it to the room.

A man stood up and walked over to them. "I'm John," he said.

"Where is Deborah?" Jo asked.

"She's not here. She left earlier."

"You're coming with us," Don said and got John by the arm. "We have a lot of questions for you."

Jo looked at the host. "Where is table fifteen?" she asked. "I want to know everything they were served and when it was served and by whom."

Don brought John along as they went out to the table which was still vacant. "Has anyone ate at this table since they did?" Jo asked.

"No," John said. "They were the last ones who at here."

"Where are the dishes and glasses that were here?"

"They've been cleaned by now."

Jo looked at Don. "It's going to be hard to get proof without something," she said.

"I think we can get proof."

Jo and Don got a list from the Host about table 15 and then they took John and went back to the precinct. Don took John into an interrogation room. "What is this about?" John asked.

"Something very serious," Don said.

Jo came in with the list of foods and drinks that were served to Mac and Christine. She sat down at the table and looked at John. "We are going to find out how those drugs were given to Detective Taylor," she said. "And you're going to help."

"Drugs?" John said. "I don't have anything to do with drugs."

"Don't play with me. Just answer me." Jo looked at the list. "Mac had a lobster?"

John thought a moment. "Yes, he ordered the lobster and the woman who was with him ordered shrimp."

"What kind of wine did they have?"

John thought a moment. "They didn't have wine. Mr. Taylor was going to be driving so he had water," he said. "The woman had tea."

"So they didn't even get a bottle of wine or champagne?"

"No."

Jo wrote that down. "Was his glass refilled?"

"We always refill glasses."

"Did you refill his glass or did Deborah?"

"Deborah was refilling their glasses tonight because I was taking care of their dishes and bringing their courses to the table."

"Is that the way it always works?"

"Well, one of us does that and the other takes care of the rest."

"Did Mac say anything unusual to you while he was at the table?" Jo asked.

"No. I do remember that he gave the woman a ring."

"Yes, we know about that. Are the glasses filled at the table or do you take the glasses to the kitchen to fill them?"

"If we refill, we bring the pitcher to the table."

"So once they have their glass at the table, it stays there?"

"Yes."

Jo thought this would be impossible to prove without that glass. "Why did Deborah leave before you?" she asked.

"She said she was not feeling well," John said.

"I'll bet," Don remarked and folded his arms.

"How long has she been working there?" Jo asked.

John considered that. "I think last night was her first night," he said. "Sometimes they hire people this time of year to just work for a while, you know, for the holiday rush."

"What does Deborah look like?"

"She has blonde hair, blue eyes. She's about five-seven, pretty."

"Do you know anything about her?"

"She's married. I didn't talk to her much. We were too busy."

"Did she particularly want to work Detective Taylor's table?" Don asked.

John thought a moment. "Well, I think she requested to work table fifteen," he said. "It was reserved for Mr. Taylor before she got there."

"And how would she find that out?"

"I guess she would have to look at the reservations."

"The question is: how did she know Mac was going there?" Jo asked.

Don sat down. "She probably had his phone bugged or something or a bug in his room," he said.

"We have to find all this."

"She's probably cleaned up her garbage by now. After all, she didn't let any evidence stay in his apartment before."

John stared at them. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.

Jo looked at him. "If we find out you had anything to do with this, you will be," she said in a warning tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything about Deborah. You can ask my boss. I've been working there for two years."

Jo looked at Don. "Get him out of here," she said.

Don took John out. Jo leaned on the table and sighed. She knew they did not have enough evidence to prove that anyone had drugged Mac at that restaurant. She knew it had to happen there but they had to have proof. Don came back in after he got rid of John. "What do you think?" he asked.

Jo stood up. "I don't know, but until we can find this unknown female, there is nothing we can do," she said. "All he knows is that she has blond hair and blue eyes. We have to go back to that restaurant and get her application and see what address she put on there. Get a search warrant for it."

"I'm on it."

Jo and Don left the interrogation room and Jo went up to the lab. "What is going on?" Danny asked as Jo was coming in. "This woman attacked Mac again?"

"Yes," Jo said. She sighed and shook her head. "We had a time getting him under control too."

"No clues as to who she is yet?"

"No, except at that restaurant, her name is Deborah. Don is getting a warrant to get her application and information."

"I heard about what happened. How is Christine?"

"She's tough. She's at the hospital with him now."

Mac had woken up and he was trying to pull his arms out of the straps that were holding him to the bed. "I don't want to be tied down," he said.

Christine was there beside him. "They're trying to protect you," she said. "Just try to stay calm."

Mac's face was red and he arched his back as he was trying to get out of the restraints. "Let me go," he begged.

"Mac, just lie still."

"I'm cold!"

Christine pulled the blanket over him more. He looked at her with tears in his eyes. "What's wrong with me?" he asked. "I feel like something's crawling all over me."

"But you know it's not," Christine said.

Mac groaned and tried to move. "I want out of this bed," he said.

"They're not going to let you out."

Just then, a doctor came in along with three nurses, two of whom were male. Christine stood back while they moved over to Mac. "Nobody is going to hurt you here," the doctor said.

"Let me out of here," Mac said.

"We will in time."

When the doctor was done with his exam, he walked over to Christine. "How long will he be like this?" she asked quietly.

"Hard to tell," the doctor said. "Just according to his metabolism." He looked at Christine. "It's a good thing he didn't have any higher dose. He's most likely in the final stages of it now. He should be getting over it in a few hours."

By the time morning came, Mac was sleeping and snoring loudly. Christine walked out of the room because she did not want him to feel embarrassed if he woke up soon. She thought he must be doing that because of the condition he had been in. She rubbed her eyes. She had been there all night and watched him feeling like things were crawling on him and thinking that people were in the room and trying to get loose until finally, he fell asleep.

Jo walked in after a few minutes. "How is he?" she asked.

"He's sleeping," Christine said. "It was a rough night."

"You look tired. Why don't you go and get some rest and I'll stay here a while?"

"Have you found out anything?"

"We got information about the woman who was working at the restaurant but the address and phone number she gave was fake. We don't know who she was."

"I think I would know her if I saw her again and I'm sure Mac would when he wakes up in his right mind."

"He's lucky to have you."

"I just want him well. I want to take him somewhere for the holidays. He needs some time away."

"He does."

Christine looked in at Mac. She did not want to leave him but she needed some rest and she needed a shower and some different clothes. She was still wearing the dress she had worn to dinner. "I'll be back later," she said. "Call me if he wakes up."

"I will," Jo replied.

Christine left the hospital and went home. She stood a moment and looked around her apartment. She cried as she thought of what had happened to Mac. She looked at the ring on her hand. She walked into the bathroom and remembered then what Mac had been doing in there. There was a small amount of blood on the floor. She figured that was where Mac had hit Flack in the nose. She would have to clean the bathroom so she got busy with that.

The bleach had made a white streak across her wall and the towel that was hanging there. She just threw the towel away and cleaned up the rest. She got a shower and then went into her bedroom. She folded her arms as she remembered what had happened to Mac there. She longed for the day that they were married and living in the same place. She had heard Mac say he was tired of being alone…well, she was too.

Mac woke up lying on his stomach. He felt like his eyes were dry and his mouth too, and his head was hurting. He looked around him and realized he was in the hospital. He tried to sit up but his wrists were bound with something. "Hey," he said.

Jo was sitting beside the bed. She stood up. "Mac," she said.

"What's going on? Why am I tied to the bed?"

"You mean you don't remember anything?"

Mac thought a moment. "No. How did I get here?"

Jo moved so Mac could see her. "Do you know who I am?" she asked.

Mac looked confused. "Of course I do, Jo."

Jo sat down in the chair on that side of the bed. "Mac, I have a lot to tell you but I thought I would let Christine tell you."

"Christine? Where is she?"

"She had to go home for a while. She'll be back."

"Untie me."

"I can't unless the doctor says so."

"Jo, please untie me."

"I'll get the doctor."

Jo left the room. Mac felt like he was trapped. He did not know what had happened. It must have been something serious if he was tied to the bed. He waited for Jo to come back and he wondered when Christine would be back. He remembered that he had proposed to her. They had eaten dinner and then he drove her home…

Jo came back in with the doctor. He examined Mac and then they took the restraints off. Mac sat up and looked at them. "What happened?" he asked.

"What do you remember?" Jo asked.

Mac thought a moment. "I remember taking Christine out for dinner and I proposed to her and after dinner, we went back to her apartment…I don't remember anything after that. Is Christine okay?"

"Yes, she is fine," Jo said.

Mac rubbed his face and head. "I feel like I have a hangover," he said. He looked at Jo. "Tell me what happened."

"You were drugged again."

Mac frowned. "What did I do?" he asked.

"I'll let the two of you talk," the doctor said and left the room.

Jo walked over to Mac's bed and sat on the side of the bed. "Don and Sheldon had to take you down," she said to start. "You were thinking you were in the war."

Mac scowled. "What?"

"You thought you were in the war and you thought we were the enemy."

Mac frowned. "Did I hurt anyone?"

"You, uhm, busted Don's nose."

Mac rubbed his face. "Where is he?"

"He's trying to find some leads in the case," Jo said. "It wasn't your fault, Mac."

"Don't tell me that! I don't care whose fault it was. I still…hurt one of my friends!"

"Mac, he knew you had been drugged. He would do it all again if he had to."

Mac sighed. "What else did I do?"

"That was all I saw. We arrived when you were in that bathroom."

"In the bathroom? What bathroom?"

Jo thought she was confusing him even more. "You were in Christine's bathroom. You thought you were in the war and you were looking for a weapon."

Mac shook his head. "What kind of weapon?" he asked.

"You couldn't find anything else so you were going to use bleach and everything else that you found in the bathroom."

Mac thought that sounded crazy. "I didn't use it, did I?"

"You tried but you didn't succeed. That was when Don and Sheldon got in there. Once Don got you down, they handcuffed you and Sheldon sedated you and that's how you got here."

"How did this all start? How did anybody drug me?" Mac stopped and looked at Jo. "Someone at the restaurant drugged me?"

"That's what we think," Jo said. "We think it was the woman who worked at your table."

Mac thought a moment. "I remember she had blond hair," he said.

"Was she particularly friendly toward you?"

Mac considered that. "She smiled at me and she came over there several times to refill my glass and asked me if everything was okay and said if there was anything she could do for me to let her know."

"Did she brush up against you?"

"She would kinda lean over in front of me." Mac looked at Jo. "She was wearing a low cut, but I didn't really pay that much attention although I noticed."

"See? I told you men don't know when a woman is flirting with them. Did she say anything odd to you?"

Mac thought a moment. "She asked me if I wanted anything besides water to drink," he said. "I told her I was driving and I wasn't drinking."

"Oh, Mac, she had to give it to you in the water but we can't prove it. Everything is gone and so is she."

"Who was she?" Mac thought about the woman at the table. "I know she had blond hair but I wasn't really paying that much attention to what she looked like. I proposed to Christine and I was kinda nervous about that and I was more interested in her than anyone else."

"I'm sure you were," Jo said.

Just then, Christine came in. "Hi," she said with a smile when she saw Mac awake. "How are you feeling?"

Mac looked at her. "Well, I feel like I've been run over by a truck," he said.

Christine sat down on the side of the bed. Jo stood up. "I'll leave you two alone and let you talk," she said.

When Jo was gone, Christine kissed Mac. Mac looked at her. "What happened last night?" he asked.

"It's over, Mac," Christine said.

"I don't care. I want to know what I did."

"Well, we got back to my apartment building and while we were in the elevator, you took my hair down," Christine said.

Mac scowled. "I took your hair down?"

"Yes. You said 'you're so beautiful', and I kinda thought that was odd but we went on to the apartment and when we got in there you…"

Mac looked at her as she paused. "I what?"

"You told me I was beautiful again and said that I looked like I had light coming from my hair and skin. I thought you were being incredibly charming but I found out you were drugged."

Mac frowned. "Christine, you 'are' beautiful. If I said that, I meant it."

Christine smiled. "Well, I thought you probably meant that but it didn't stop there."

"Tell me what happened. I want to know."

"Why? It's over. You weren't even yourself and nothing you did was really you."

"I want to know anyway."

Christine told him what all happened and Mac lay back on the bed. "I'm sorry," he said.

"See? You're just going to feel bad about something you don't even remember and that you didn't do on your own," Christine said.

"I hear I gave Flack a broken nose too."

"You can't blame yourself for this. You can blame this woman who keeps doing these things to you. They think it was the woman who served us at the restaurant."

Mac nodded. "Yes, I know." He looked at her. "I would never hurt you."

"I know that. I love you."

"I love you too."

Someone knocked on the door and they looked to see Don at the door with a bandage on his nose. Mac motioned him in. Don came into the room and Mac stared at him. "Now, don't start beating yourself up about this," Don said.

"I'm sorry," Mac said.

"How can you be sorry for something that you did when you didn't know you were doing it? You thought you were in the war."

"You got any leads to this woman?"

"No, but we think she lives in your building."

Mac thought. "I don't remember seeing her but I haven't met everyone who lives in that building," he said.

"She could have been doing it for the real person. I don't like this, Mac. You're going to have to be somewhere that she can't get to you."

"If I do that, we might never catch her."

"If she keeps drugging you like this, you could have serious damage."

Mac knew that was true. "We have to find her."

"Anything that you can tell us that was unusual in the last few days or weeks could help."

"I've been trying to think when I wasn't stoned out of my mind."

"Just keep trying and get back to me. I have to get back to the office."

Don left and Mac lay back on the bed. "I feel tired," he said.

"You had quite a night," Christine said.

"Has anything strange happened to you?"

Christine considered that. "Not that I remember," she said.

"I have to try to remember. It could have been something small."

"I'll try to help."


	8. Chapter 8

Mac and Christine talked through what happened at dinner but they could not remember anything all that unusual. Christine did remember the woman being a little friendly with Mac but she thought that happened everywhere. "All I know is that it had to be in the water," Mac said.

"I agree," Christine replied.

"Maybe together, we might be able to get a sketch of her."

"I don't remember that much about what she looked like. I was looking at this beautiful ring you gave me a lot of the time."

Mac smiled. "You really like it?"

"Of course. I love the man who gave it to me."

Christine leaned over and kissed Mac. "Well, that was the real Mac Taylor," she said.

Mac touched her hair. "You are beautiful," he said. "I must have still had my senses a little when I said that."

Christine smiled. "It's hard to believe that this is really happening."

"What?"

"That we're together. It just seems like time goes by so fast."

"It does. I'm tired of wasting time."

"What do you mean?"

Mac paused a moment and then looked at her. "Why don't we run away and get married?" he asked.

"Where?"

"Anywhere you want to go."

Christine considered that. "Mac, I was going to tell you about a chef's convention they're having in Las Vegas. I was going to attend that."

Mac thought about that a moment. "We're going to mix our wedding with business?" he asked.

"Of course not. I shouldn't have even said that."

"You want to go to Vegas and get married in a chapel?"

"It could be fun."

"Oh, yeah, the Elvis impersonator and all."

Christine laughed. "I'm glad you haven't lost your sense of humor."

"I don't ever want to lose that."

"I don't want you to lose it either."

That evening, Mac got out of the hospital. Instead of going home, he went to the lab, much to the contrary of what Christine wanted him to do. "I don't want to go home right now," he said.

"Mac, you need to go home and rest," Christine replied.

"I'll go home later. I laid there in that bed at the hospital all day and I don't want to go home."

"Oh, you are so stubborn."

"You like me that way."

Christine folded her arms as she followed him to his office. "I like you that way?" she asked.

Mac flashed his smile at her as he went into his office. Christine came in and closed the door. Mac rubbed his forehead. "I still have a headache," he said.

"See? You should be at home."

"Christine."

Just then, Mac saw Jo coming toward his office. He knew they would gang up on him about going home now. She came into the office. "Mac, what are you doing here?" Jo asked.

"I wanted to be here," Mac said. "I just didn't want to go home right now. I want to know if you guys have found out anything else."

"We're going to visit everyone at your apartment building," Jo said.

Mac stared at her a moment. "Everybody?" he asked. "That's a lot of people."

"Well, we can't figure out any other way to find this woman. There is no one in your building named Deborah." Jo looked at him. "Can you believe that? Not a single person."

Mac shrugged. "So, there's no one named Deborah. I bet there's only one Mac in that building."

Jo put her hand on her hip. "You're just a joker today, aren't you?" she asked.

"I guess I feel weird today after that night I had."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I have a headache but I feel better than I did this morning. I don't feel like things are crawling all over me."

"You want to go with us to visit all these people? Maybe you would recognize her."

"I thought you'd never ask," Mac said. "Are we taking Christine too?"

Christine looked surprised. "Me?"

"Yes. You saw her too and your memory might be clearer than mine."

"As long as I don't have to chase anyone."

Mac smiled. "I promise."

Mac, Christine and Jo went down and got Don and they all headed for the apartment building. "You think she's still there?" Don asked.

"No," Mac replied. "But maybe she thinks we would think that."

"I don't think she's doing all this alone," Jo said. "I think she has some help."

Mac shook his head. "I can't figure out what her motive is."

"It must be something to do with you and Christine," Don said. "Christine, has anything strange happened to you lately?"

Christine considered that. "Why would they do all this to Mac because of me?" she asked.

"Maybe to get you away from him," Jo said.

Christine frowned. "Well, there was this guy who asked me out before and he comes to the restaurant sometimes."

Mac looked at her. "You didn't say anything about that," he said. "Who is he?"

"Now, just don't get jealous. You remember when I told you that I was a catch and you were going to lose me?"

Mac nodded. "Of course. I wondered what you meant by that."

"Someone else had asked me out but I wasn't about to go out with him until I found out if I could get you and I would never choose him over you."

"And he's been harassing you?"

"I wouldn't say he is harassing me. He comes to the restaurant to eat a few days a week."

"But, Mac, this is a woman doing all this," Don said.

"But maybe she's not alone," Mac replied. "Maybe it's about something else."

"You think this guy's got some woman helping him to break you and Christine up so he can pounce?"

"Who knows?"

"That's pretty far out," Christine remarked. "That guy has never touched me or anything or acted aggressive."

"But maybe he just got like this when he figured out that we were serious," Mac said. "Do you know his name?"

"Mac, you can't accuse a man just because he's stepping into your territory."

Mac looked at her. "That is not what I'm doing," he declared. "We have to look into everything with something like this."

"Oh, I think you're jealous and you want to find out who the guy is so you can let him know that you know about him."

Mac folded his arms. Jo and Don were trying not to laugh or smile in the front seat. Mac looked at Don who was in the passenger seat. "You think this is funny?" he asked.

Don looked around at Mac. "I didn't say anything," Don said.

"Yeah, but you think it."

Don looked out the passenger window. He was trying hard not to laugh. Mac looked at Christine. "So I'm jealous," he said. "I have a right to be jealous."

Christine held up her hand. "You see that?" she asked referring to her ring. "I am wearing 'your' ring. I 'chose' to do that. That means that I want 'you', not someone else. You have no reason to be jealous."

"Oh please. Now, you're just wanting me to think that women don't get jealous."

"I don't think they get as jealous as men."

Don almost snickered but he tried to keep it quiet. Jo looked at him, hearing that. Don tried to pretend that he did not say anything.

Mac looked at Christine. "Do you mean to tell me that if some woman came into the lab and she was hanging around me smiling and flirting with me and asking me to dinner or drinks, you would not get jealous?" he asked.

Christine folded her arms and looked at him. "Who's doing that?" she asked.

"Nobody. I'm asking a philosophical question."

"That's not a real scenario. That never happened."

"OH yeah? Well, there have been plenty of women who flirted with me."

Don rubbed his face trying desperately not to laugh. He thought this was the funniest thing he had ever heard from Mac. Jo thumped him on the arm. Don looked at her and she gave him a warning look.

"Who has flirted with you?" Christine went on.

Mac folded his arms and blew out a breath. "Well, there was that reporter that time, and it was about the same time you started sending me emails," he said. "I could have chosen her, if you didn't know."

"Oh, could you?"

"Yeah. You're not the only 'catch'." Mac looked at her with a haughty look but he was trying not to smile.

"Mac Taylor, you are just full of jealousy. That's all it is."

"Like I said: I have a right to be jealous." Mac looked at Don. "Wouldn't you be jealous, Don?"

Don looked at Mac. "I don't have anything to say in this," he said.

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope."

Mac looked at Christine who was smiling at him. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"I love it when you're jealous," Christine said.

Mac stared at her a moment. "Then why are you refusing to tell me who the guy was?" he asked.

"I don't know his name, except that his first name is Kevin."

"Oh, Kevin, huh?"

"And what was this reporter's name?"

Mac scowled. "I don't remember," he said.

"Jennifer Walsh," Don said.

Mac looked at him and then back at Christine. "Oh, I think I've heard that name," Christine said. "Did you think she was pretty?"

Mac frowned. "Okay, never mind," he said. "That was I think the same day that you sent me a friend request."

"Well, maybe she is behind this," Christine said. "Maybe she is so jealous that you would choose me over a big shot reporter that she has just gone off the deep end and decided to start drugging you and trying to get you for herself."

"Okay, I get your point. You don't have to rub it in. I was just saying that the guy could have been subtle about it. Are you sure no one has been following you or anything?"

"Not that I've seen but I have been pretty busy lately."

"I can't figure out who is doing all this and why," Mac said. "I just don't know of anyone who has been hanging around me either."

"They probably haven't been hanging around you," Jo said, now that Mac and Christine were done with their discussion. "It's probably someone who has just been admiring you through the newspaper or something like that."

"Well, that could be any of millions."

"You're right, but I think it's someone in your own apartment building. It has to be someone who is there close because they know when you leave and come back or they couldn't have done the things they've done."

"They could be watching him," Don pointed out.

"But they had to have access to his building and be able to get a key."

"That's the puzzling part. How did they get a key?"

"That landlord has a young wife," Mac said. "I don't know how anyone could get close to him."

"Maybe she is doing it," Jo said. "Have you met her?"

"That was not her at the restaurant."

"Maybe it was someone helping her. I just don't think this person is doing all this on her own."

"You may be right but we have to find them and prove it."

They soon arrived at Mac's apartment building. Mac stood in the lobby as the others came up around him. "This is going to be a long evening," he said.

Christine hugged his arm. "We can spend it together," she said.

"I guess you can look on the bright side of anything."


	9. Chapter 9

**Someone said they thought I was going to do this story with spoilers, but I am not. And that story I did with the practical jokes...I did not even know that Lindsey was going to have "blue" circles around her eyes until I saw that video after I had already written that chapter. I had heard some kind of rumor but oh well, I will try not to have anymore spoilers. :) Thanks for reading. miss37**

Mac and the others went to the first floor of the apartment building. "Here goes nothing," he said.

By the time they got done with that floor, they were ready to quit. "I have never seen so many rude, haughty people in my life," Don said.

"I didn't know I lived in such a snooty building," Mac remarked.

"You would think that maybe some of them would recognize you," Jo said.

"I don't think anyone pays any attention to anyone anymore."

"Not much. Everybody is too busy."

Mac shook his head. "Even I'm too busy."

They got into the elevator to go up to the next floor. A tall guy in a black suit and white shirt got into the elevator. "Good evening," he said in a quiet voice. He had blue eyes and black hair with gray streaks in it. He stood with his hands folded in front of him. "Nice night out there."

"It's cold," Don said.

"Yes, but nice anyway."

Mac looked at the guy who seemed to talk just above a whisper. "You live in this building?" he asked.

"No, I'm visiting a friend," the man said.

"Has your friend said anything about anything strange going on lately?"

"No."

The elevator doors opened and they all left the elevator, except the other guy. "That guy gives me the creeps," Don said. "I can't stand people who talk barely above a whisper."

"Maybe he has trouble with his voice," Jo said.

"Maybe, or maybe he doesn't want us to hear it so we wouldn't recognize it."

"You're always suspicious."

"I'm paid to be suspicious."

They went on down the hall and visited all the apartments on that floor. When they got back to the elevator, Christine was looking at her watch. "This is boring," she said. "And I am tired."

Mac looked at Jo and Don. "I don't think we're going to get anywhere with this," he said. "I'll take Christine up to my apartment and let her stay there while we continue this."

They went up to the next floor and Don and Jo got out. Mac and Christine went on up to the floor Mac lived on. Mac unlocked all the locks on the door and they went in. "Well, at least there are no candles and roses this time," he said. "Just make yourself at home."

"How long are you going to continue that tonight?" Christine asked.

"I don't know. Hopefully until we find something."

Christine kissed Mac. "If you don't mind, I'm going to get some rest."

"I don't mind at all."

Mac led her into his bedroom. He looked around the apartment just to make sure no one was in there. "I'll see you later," he said.

"Be careful."

Mac went out and locked the door. He looked down the hall toward Mindy Peters' apartment. He walked down the hall and around the corner. He thought he caught a glimpse of someone going around the other corner. He thought this whole situation had him on edge. He could not help but think of the fact that someone had drugged him…twice. He knew those drugs could have lasting effects if that kept happening.

Mac went down to Mindy's apartment door. He knew that her bedroom wall joined his bedroom wall. Although he lived in an upscale apartment building, the walls were still thin and some sounds carried. He wondered if Mindy had heard anything, but he also wondered if she had anything to do with it.

Mac knocked on the apartment door and waited. He did not hear anything so he knocked again. He heard someone call, "Just a minute!"

Mac heard the locks on the door and then it opened slightly. He could see the surprise on Mindy's face at seeing him. She had on a robe and had a towel around her head. "Detective Taylor?" she said and opened the door wider. "What brings you over here?"

Mac had to think a moment. "I was wondering if you had heard any strange noises," he said. "Did you hear anything in my apartment yesterday morning?"

"No, I haven't. I always hear when you come home during the night."

"I make that much noise?"

"Oh, you don't bother me. I'm usually just lying awake anyway."

"Can't sleep?"

"Yeah, I'm a night owl, I guess."

"Has anybody visited you lately like salesmen or anyone like that?" Mac asked.

"Well, a few days ago, the landlord visited to fix a leaky pipe."

"Did he bring his wife with him?"

Mindy looked at Mac. "Yes, he did."

"How many days ago was this?"

"I would say maybe a week ago."

"Was she alone in any of your rooms for any amount of time?"

"She was in here while I showed the landlord where the leak was."

Mac thought a moment. "How long was she in here alone?"

"Oh, I don't know."

"Thanks."

Mac left there and went back around to his apartment. He went in and found Christine on the bed asleep. He watched her a moment wishing that he could see her there all the time. He looked at the picture that was hanging on his wall above the bed. He walked over to the picture and stared at it. He could not see anything unusual about it but he tried to pull it up from the wall and discovered that it was hooked to something besides just what was helping it hang on the wall. He pulled with a little more force and found that there was a small wire connected to the picture and there was a small device sticking in the back of the picture. As he pulled it out, he realized that it went into the wall and must be connected to Mindy's room.

"Mac, what are you doing?" Christine asked.

Mac looked and she was propped up on her elbow. "I think I found out how this person has been watching me," he said.

Christine moved over to him and looked at what he was doing. "You mean that's a camera?" she asked.

Mac nodded. "That's what it looks like."

Mac got his cell phone. "Hold this thing up so I can take pictures of this," he said.

Christine held the picture so Mac could take pictures of how the wire was connected. Then he pulled the picture loose which made a bigger hole in the wall. He looked through the hole at Mindy who was standing there with her arms folded. "Well, I guess I found it," he said.

"What are we supposed to do about that hole?" Mindy asked.

"We'll fix it."

Mac looked at the plaster on his bed that had come out with the wire. He did not know how anyone could do this without someone knowing it but there it was. "I have to get this to the lab to get it analyzed," he said.

"I guess I can go home," Christine said.

"I'll drive you."

Mac called Jo and told her what happened and then he and Christine went to the elevator. Mac was surprised to see the same guy in the black suit get into the elevator with them. Mac thought that guy was too quiet. He just stood there in the elevator with them and looked straight ahead. Christine hugged Mac's arm. She realized that guy was the same one who had been with them earlier too. They got down to the lobby and left the elevator. Jo and Don met Mac outside at the Avalanche. Mac noticed the other guy got into a black Cadillac.

Mac showed Jo and Don what he had found. "We need to dust this for prints," he said. "But we need to drop Christine off at her apartment."

"Let's go," Jo said.

They headed toward Christine's apartment. "Who was that creepy guy in the elevator?" Christine asked.

"I don't know," Mac replied. "I've never seen him there before."

They arrived at Christine's apartment and she and Mac got out. "I'll be right back," Mac said.

Mac walked Christine in and they went up to her apartment. "You know, I come home by myself all the time," she said.

"Yeah, but while all this is going on, I want to make sure you're okay," Mac said.

They went in and Mac looked around the apartment. He kissed her. "Get some rest," he said.

"I'll try."

Mac went back down to the Avalanche and they headed for the precinct, not noticing that the black Cadillac pulled up in front of Christine's apartment building.

"Mindy said that the landlord's wife was in her apartment the day that he came to fix a leaky pipe," Mac said. "She was in there alone part of the time and she could have done it that day, and then she went over to my apartment and finished the job."

"You think she's just there with the landlord so she can get access to everything?" Jo asked.

"I don't know about that, but I think she may be the person we're looking for."

"Why don't we run her in?" Don asked.

"We have to dust this for prints first."

They arrived at the precinct and went up to the lab. Mac entered the evidence and then gave it to Adam to dust for prints. "What's her motive?" Jo wondered out loud.

Mac considered that. "I don't know," he said. "She acts flirtatious but I have not seen her many times."

"There must be something going on. Maybe she thinks it's like having a celebrity living in their apartment building."

"Me?"

"Well, Mac, you've been in the paper more than once."

"But, Jo, they drugged me. That's going beyond hero worship."

"But you don't even know what happened that first night."

Mac frowned. "You keep reminding me of that."

"It's true and I wonder myself."

"I don't want to think about it. There's no way of knowing because I can't remember it…unless she has it recorded somewhere." Mac was not sure he would want to know what it was if there was anything.

Adam got the fingerprints from the camera and everything and ran them through the system, but there were no hits. Mac sighed as he looked at the results. "Well, there it is," he said. "We can't do anything without getting her prints first, but we have reasonable suspicion since she was in Mindy's apartment."

"And just why do you trust Mindy so much?"

Mac looked at Jo with a sigh. "Because I just don't think she is the type to do something like this," he said. "I have met a lot of people, Jo, and she would not do something like this."

"Well, why don't we get her fingerprints just for good measure."

Mac headed to his office to fill out a request for a warrant. When he had that done, he went to deliver it to a judge. Jo went with him. "You think she knows we're coming after her?" Jo asked.

"I don't know," Mac said. "If she was looking, I guess she saw me find the camera."

They got to the judge, got the warrant and headed back to the apartment building and called Don and told him to meet them there. "I hope she is still there," Jo remarked.

Mac had been thinking that but they could not do anything until they had probable cause and a warrant. They arrived at the apartment building and went inside. "What if she's flown the coup?" Don asked.

"Then we'll have to hunt her until we find her," Mac said.

They went up to the landlord's apartment and knocked. Alfred came to the door looking like he had been in bed. "What do you want?" he asked.

Mac showed him the warrant. "We need to see your wife," he said.

"She's not here."

Mac frowned. "Where is she?"

"She went out earlier with her friends and hasn't come back."

Mac looked at Don and Jo. "Well, you think she's coming back?" he asked.

"I would bet that she's not," Don said.

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked.

Mac looked at him. "Has your wife been acting strange lately?" he asked. "Where did you meet her?"

"Better yet, has she been talking about anything that Detective Taylor has been doing?" Jo asked. "Has she been paying attention to the news or papers?"

The man stood there a moment. "She always notices when he does something," he said. "I guess it's because he lives in our building and he's a public figure. Why?"

"Well, we think it's more than that," Mac said. "We need to lift some fingerprints from your apartment and we need yours for elimination."

"What is this about?"

"Someone has been drugging Mac here," Jo said. "They've broken into his apartment and broken into his neighbor's apartment and had a camera in his bedroom."

"You think Teresa would do something like this?" Alfred asked. "You're out of your mind. You're not getting anything out of here without a warrant."

Mac held up the warrant again. "We have a warrant," he said. "Now, you can either cooperate or you can be taken downtown."

Alfred stared at him. "I don't think I want to renew your lease when it comes due," he said.

"I don't think I want to renew it either."

Alfred let them in, although he did not want to. They took his fingerprints and then lifted fingerprints from the house where they knew only Alfred's and Teresa's prints would be. Mac looked at Alfred. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, but someone has been drugging me," he said. "If it's not Teresa, I'll apologize but right now, she is a suspect."

"Fine," Alfred said as he closed the door in their faces.

Mac looked at Jo and Don. "You know, he can't make you move because of this," Don said.

"I think they can make you move for any reason they want these days," Mac replied. "We have to get Mindy's prints too."

They went down to Mindy's apartment and took her prints and went down to the Avalanche. "Don, I want you to watch this building," Mac said. "If you see Teresa come back, let me know."

"I'll keep an eye out," Don said as Mac gave him a picture of the woman. He looked at Mac. "She's married to him?"

"Yes," Mac said.

"You think it's his money?"

"Could be his power."

Don snickered at that. "Yeah, the power to make people move."

"Just watch the place."

Mac and Jo got into the Avalanche and headed back to the lab. "I don't think she's going to show up," Jo said.

"I don't either but you never know," Mac said. "We could be wrong."

They arrived at the lab and ran the fingerprints. Of course, they had Alfred's prints and the other prints they had from the apartment, which they assumed were Teresa's, matched the ones on the camera. "Well, that's almost proof," Mac said. "It seems to me that her prints ought to be the only other ones in that bedroom or bathroom."

"I agree," Jo said. She looked at Mac. "She must be obsessed with you. Why would he not know it?"

"Just denying it?"

"Or doesn't want to admit it?"

Mac rubbed his forehead. "This just doesn't sound like something a grown woman would do. She is a pretty woman, and young. Why did she marry that old man if she didn't love him?"

"Maybe she was obsessed with you before she married him."

Mac shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would she be obsessed with me?"

"You're pretty famous here in New York and I guess you were just accessible."

Mac looked at her. "I am not accessible."

"You walk around the city and you live right there in the apartment building. It's not like you have bodyguards or something."

"I'm just a detective, Jo. I'm supposed to protect other people."

"I'm not saying that you need a bodyguard. I'm just saying that since you're in the news and all, it might be easy for someone to kinda start noticing you."

"Well, this is crazy."

"I agree but unfortunately, there are people out there who don't think the same way."

"I just don't understand why she would drug me like that. What was the purpose of that?"

Jo had to admit that was confusing to her too. She did not understand that either. "When we catch her, maybe we can find out," she said.

"Yeah, well, I have to get this report written." Mac headed for his office. He wondered how far this woman would go. He wondered why she just suddenly started this. She had never said much to him. He did remember how flirtatious she was though every time he saw her. He looked at the report about Teresa. She was an artist. He scowled as he considered that. How did she wind up in that restaurant…but that was not her unless she had on a disguise. He thought maybe she could have had on a disguise. The woman at the restaurant seemed to be the same height as Teresa and maybe the same build.

Mac sat down at his desk. He thought he would call Christine but then he thought she was probably sleeping. He could talk to her in the morning. He could not show her a picture of Teresa until then anyway. He leaned back in his chair as he thought about this whole thing. It was definitely bizarre. They knew who must have done it but they did not know where she was. He figured she could have skipped the country by now. He thought he and Christine would be skipping the country soon too. He would go with her to Las Vegas and they would get married over there. He did not care if they were going to a chef's convention.


	10. Chapter 10

Mac went home later that evening. As he was going into the elevator, there was a guy getting in at the same time. He was dressed in a suit and had thick glasses on and he seemed to have a stiff neck. "It's very cold out there tonight, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes," Mac replied. He wondered where this character came from. He thought he had met a lot of strange people lately but none of them led to that suspect. Mac got out of the elevator at his floor and went to his apartment. He did not like unlocking all those locks but he supposed he had to. He hung up his coat and went straight to his bedroom after he locked the door. He was tired and intended to get some rest tonight. He looked around the room. He could not help but feel like someone was watching him. He looked at the wall over his bed and the hole. He would have to cover that with something until it could be fixed.

Mac went into the kitchen to his "junk" drawer and got the roll of duct tape. He had a roll of red duct tape. He was amazed at how many colors there were now. He went back to the wall and started to cover the hole but then he heard Mindy say, "Detective Taylor?"

Mac scowled. "I'm sorry if I woke you," he said.

"Oh, you didn't. I was wondering if you could come over here for a minute?"

Mac considered that a moment. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes. Could you just come over?"

"What's the problem?"

"Oh, please, Detective, will you just come? You can get the key from the landlord."

"Uhm, you mean you can't get to the door?"

"No."

Mac thought she sounded like she was whining a little. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked.

"No," Mindy said in a pitiful, almost whimper.

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Mac left his apartment wondering what Mindy could be wanting him to do. He passed that guy with the stiff neck from the elevator again. He glanced at him but kept walking. He went up to the landlord's apartment. Mac did not think the man would be happy to see him again but he would see him anyway. He knocked on the door and waited.

Alfred opened the door and stared at Mac. "What do you want?" he asked quietly.

Mac looked at him a moment thinking that he looked awfully sad. "I need the key to Mindy Peters' apartment," he said. "She's in a predicament and she asked me to get her key and help her."

"Sure." Alfred gave Mac the keys. "Just bring them back."

Alfred started to close the door but Mac stopped the door. "Are you alright?" Mac asked.

Alfred looked at him. "You were right," he said. "She never came back."

Mac frowned. "I'm sorry."

"I really loved her."

Mac did not know what to say but he knew what it was like for someone to leave and then never come back but at least he was not married to her. "I have to go and help Mindy," he said. "I'll bring these back as soon as I can."

Alfred nodded and closed the door. Mac shook his head and went on back down the hall. Just as Mac was about to go into the elevator to go back down to Mindy's apartment, the guy with the stiff neck walked up beside him. "Detective Taylor," he said.

Mac was shocked that the guy knew his name. "Who are you?" he asked. "Have we met?"

"No, and you don't know me. I came to warn you that your life is in danger as well as Christine's life."

Mac frowned and then grabbed his phone. "No need to call her," the man said. "My associate is looking after her."

Mac stared at him. "How do I know I can trust you? And how do you know this?"

"Trust me, Detective. I know things about a lot of people and I'm here to help you."

The elevator opened and Mac and the other guy got in. "Can't I even know your name?" Mac asked.

"It's better that you don't," the man said.

"I'm about to go down and help my neighbor…how do you know that Christine is in danger?"

"Like I said, I know a lot of things."

"How do you even know about Christine?"

"Detective, must you ask all these questions?"

"Yes, I must! How do I know you're not involved?"

"The woman, Teresa, as you know her, who is married to your landlord…her name is not Teresa."

Mac frowned and stared at the man. "Then who is she?"

"She is a professional killer. Those first two times were just tests and humiliation. I assume that whoever is wanting to kill you wanted to humiliate you first otherwise you would be dead right now…or maybe they thought the drugs would kill you and get it over with. Anyway, someone is wanting you dead."

"Who?"

"We're not sure yet. We have not been able to track down who hired her yet. She is very well hidden."

They got out of the elevator and started toward Mindy's apartment. "Are you telling me that she married my landlord just to get close to me?" Mac asked.

"I don't know that," the man said. "She may have done that just to be comfortable and it was just convenient when she was hired to kill you."

"This doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't, but I need into your apartment so I can scan it for listening devices."

Mac sighed and stared at the man. Somehow he knew the man was telling him the truth. "Alright," he said. He opened the door to his apartment and let the other man in. "I have to go and help Mindy."

"Be careful."

Mac closed the door and went around the corner to Mindy's apartment. He went in and walked toward the bedroom door slowly. He was not comfortable in this situation. "Mindy?" he said.

"Detective Taylor?" Mindy said. "Oh, hurry. I am in the bedroom."

Mac scowled and went on in there. He was surprised to see Mindy cuffed to her bed stead. "Get this off," she said. "I couldn't get to my phone and no one could hear me until you came home."

Mac walked over there. "How did you get like this?" he asked.

Mindy bit her bottom lip looking embarrassed. "Well, they're supposed to come off by flipping this little switch here, but it broke off," she said. "I was just testing them."

Mac looked at the cuffs which had pink feathers on them. He looked at Mindy with an amused look. "And where is the key?" he asked.

"It's in my robe pocket, in the bathroom."

Mac shook his head as he went to the bathroom and found the key. He went back and unlocked the cuffs. "Excuse me!" Mindy said and ran into the bathroom and closed the door.

Mac had rescued people from weird situations but he did not know if any were weirder than this one. Mindy soon came from the bathroom. "Oh, I thank you so much," she said. "I was beginning to think I would never get loose."

"You should make sure you have the key if you're going to do something like this," Mac said and gave her the key.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble when you've already got enough trouble."

"Just be careful."

Mac left and went back to his apartment. The man was scanning the apartment. "And just what are we going to do?" Mac asked. "Are we going to try and find this woman? My team and I are looking for her."

"You don't have the technology that I have to look for her."

Mac frowned. "I want to know who you are," he said.

"I told you, it's better if you don't know."

Mac stared at him a moment. "I have access to a lot of databases and I can find out who you are," he said. "If you're doing anything illegal to know all this, I can find you."

The man looked at Mac with an uninterested look. "You'll be wasting your time," he said and continued his scan of the apartment. "I think that the killer wanted to make you hurt Christine yourself or something like that. I haven't figured out the reason for the drugging."

"Maybe if we find out who hired her, we can find out the reasons," Mac said. He got his phone and called Christine.

Christine woke up as she heard her phone ringing. "Hello," she said sleepily.

"Christine, are you alright?" Mac asked.

"Yes. Why?"

Mac walked into the kitchen. "There's a guy here who says we are in danger and that, Teresa, the landlord's wife, is a hired killer. She's a hit woman."

Christine was trying to absorb all that. "What? Why would anyone want to kill me?"

"I don't know. Maybe just because you're with me."

Christine heard that worried tone in Mac's voice. "Mac, don't worry about it. What guy do you have there who knows about this?"

"I don't know. He's some guy who claims he knows all about this and he also says his 'associate' is watching after you."

"There's no one here," Christine said as she pulled her covers up further.

"I don't think it's anything to be afraid of. He's probably outside the building." Mac remembered the guy in the black suit. "It may be that guy we saw wearing the black suit."

"He was kinda creepy."

"Yeah, but I don't think he is creepy."

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out this whole situation. I can't understand why they would drug me like that."

"Maybe they wanted to torture you, cause you to lose your job."

"Maybe."

"I hope you can figure out who is doing this."

"Just wait for me in the morning before you go to the restaurant. I don't want you to go alone."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Mac ended the call and sighed. He hated it that Christine was involved in something like this. He wanted to be there with her but he had some strange guy scanning his apartment. He went into the living room where the guy was. "I already found a camera in this apartment," he said.

"Yes, she had been watching you in your bedroom," the man said.

Mac frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I already told you that I know things."

"What do you plan to do after this?"

"My associate will take your girlfriend somewhere safe."

Mac was suddenly concerned. "What?" he asked.

"He will move her somewhere safe so we can concentrate on you since you are more likely the target. They're only using her to get to you and if they can't find her, they will come after you directly."

Mac stood there a moment to absorb that. "You can't take her," he said.

The man looked at Mac. "Don't worry about her," he said.

"You know, I could call my detectives and they could be here in a few minutes and we would find out all about you after you were arrested."

"You have a tendency to threaten people who are trying to help you, Detective. You don't like it because you're not in control."

Mac grabbed his phone and started to call Christine. "There's no need to call her," he man said. "She will be out of touch for a while but I assure you, she is safe."

Christine was wide awake now. She did not think she would be going back to sleep any time soon. She got up and went to get a bottle of water and then she heard someone knock on the door. She did not think that could be Mac and she did not know who would be here this time of night. She walked slowly into the living room. "Who's there?" she asked.

"Christine, open the door," the man said. "I'm here to help you."

Christine thought that sounded crazy. "Are you kidding?"

"Absolutely not. You can ask my associate. He'll tell you I have no sense of humor."

Christine watched as the door opened and the guy in the black suit came in. She started to run to her bedroom, but he grabbed her and covered her mouth. "Don't scream," he said in his quiet voice. "I'm here to take you somewhere safe."

Christine remembered that Mac said this guy was on their side. She nodded and the man let go of her. She stared at him. "How do I know I can trust you?" she asked.

"Someone is trying to kill your boyfriend and they're going to try and get to you to draw him out. It will be better for him and you if I can concentrate on one location. Go and get some clothes on so we can leave."

Christine stared at him a moment and then went to her room. She got into some comfortable clothes and then grabbed her cell phone and keys from the nightstand. She went into the living room where the guy was still standing there waiting for her. She got her jacket from the coat rack and as she was about to put her phone in the pocket, he took it. "You can't take this with you," he said. "If you have this, she can trace you and that would defeat the purpose of being in a safe place, wouldn't it?"

"How am I supposed to call Mac?" Christine asked.

"I will let him know that you're okay."

Just then, Christine's phone rang. He ignored the call and put the phone in the other coat pocket on the coat rack. Then he got Christine by the arm and they were out the door. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"To a safe place."

"What am I supposed to call you?"

"You can call me John." He touched his ear and said, "I've got her."

Mac stared at his phone as the call ended. He looked at the man who was packing up his equipment. "She didn't answer," he said.

The man seemed to be listening to something. "She's with my associate now," he said. He looked at Mac and went over to the sofa. He reached under the edge of the sofa and pulled out a small device. He stood up and showed it to Mac.

Mac stared at the bug. "So what is your plan?" he asked.

"We're going to stop her."

"That's a very simple plan."

"It usually works."

"Can I at least know your name?"

"Just call me Finch."

Mac stared at him a moment. The guy had an unwavering stare, so Mac thought he must be telling him the truth. "You think she's going to come after me?" he asked.

"I'm certain she will. She's not one to give up."

Mac thought he might as well accept their help, but he was not inclined to accept help since his team was on this. He knew the woman could not get into the lab, but when he was out of there, she could definitely get to him. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"We wait. She's going to make her move soon when she thinks you're alone or vulnerable once she realizes she can't get Christine."

John blindfolded Christine while they were in the car so that she would not know where they were going. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Somewhere safe," John replied. "Just relax. You're safe now."

Christine was not sure whether she trusted that or not but she trusted Mac and if he thought this guy was one of the good guys, she supposed she would trust that too.


	11. Chapter 11

John took Christine out of the Cadillac and into a building. She was still blindfolded. "Am I going to have to wear this blindfold the whole time?" she asked.

"Of course not," John replied in his almost whisper. "Just a minute."

They soon arrived in a room that looked fairly normal. It had a bed, and a bathroom and even a small kitchenette. "You can stay here until this is over," John said.

"What about my restaurant?" Christine asked. "Who's going to compensate me for that?"

John looked at her. "If you're dead, there won't be any worry about that, will there?"

Christine shook her head. "Bear!" John called.

A dog came running in there and sat down beside him. "Watch after her," he said.

Christine realized that John was leaving. "Where are you going?" she asked. "You're just going to leave me here?"

"You'll be comfortable here," John said.

Christine could not believe it. "When do I get to talk to Mac?" she asked.

John walked over to her and dialed Mac's number. "Just for a minute."

Christine took the phone and it was ringing…

Mac took his phone off his side as it was ringing. The ID said "Private". "Hello," he answered.

"Mac."

"Christine? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, but I'm…I don't know where I am."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like an apartment."

"You'll be fine. They're serious about this."

"I realize that, but I don't like being kidnapped…for my safety."

Mac almost smiled at that fire he heard in Christine's voice. "It won't be for long, I don't think."

"I hope not because I want to run away with you."

"Don't worry. We are going somewhere far away and we're gonna get married."

"I love you, Mac."

"I love you too, Christine."

Christine ended the call with that and gave it back to John. "You don't want to lose those dreams," John said. "Just make yourself at home. There's plenty of food in the kitchen there."

Christine watched him leave. She looked at the dog who was just lying there on the floor watching her. She thought it was a German Shepherd. "Well, hello, Bear," she said.

The dog barked once. Christine stared at it a moment. She thought it must be one of those highly trained dogs. She laid down on the bed to try and get some rest but she could not help but worry about Mac. They did not know who was trying to kill him or why they were trying to kill him. She supposed both of those questions would be answered at the same time.

Mac put his phone away and looked at Finch. "I'm sorry about this," Finch said. "But this way you won't have to worry about Christine. I would think you would want it that way."

Mac had to admit, it gave him a little peace of mind. "I do," he said.

"Hopefully this will be over soon and the two of you can go on with your lives."

Mac looked at him. "And what kind of life do you have?" he asked.

"A lonely one most of the time but not always."

Mac sat down on the couch. "I was lonely and had given up on ever finding anyone again until I met Christine," he said.

"Yes, I know about your late wife. I know that can't be an easy thing to get over."

"I don't know if you really get over it, you just learn to cope with it and learn that your life is still going on."

Finch seemed to absorb that and consider it. "You're right," he said.

Mac looked at him. "So, what do we do next?" he asked.

"You go on with your daily routine and we will be watching. My associate will be close by either you or the killer."

"And what if he loses track?"

"I assure you, he is quite good at what he does and you probably won't know he's there."

"The guy in the black suit, right?"

"Sometimes."

Mac was not sure what that meant but he was glad he would have some help from someone who knew who they were looking for. "Do you guys work with the police department?" he asked.

"We have connections," Finch replied.

Mac figured that was about all the answer he would get so he leaned back on the sofa. "So are you going to stay here or what?" he asked.

"As soon as my associate is in place, I will be leaving."

"And what am I supposed to call your associate?"

"John. But you might not see him."

"I saw him."

"He was making sure you weren't in danger and he was preparing to get Christine to a safe place."

Finch looked into space a moment and then looked at Mac. "Okay, I am going now," he said. "Good luck."

Mac locked the door after Finch left. He looked at his empty apartment. It seemed even worse now because Christine was not even within reach even by phone. He realized he did not take the keys back to the landlord, so he went out into the hall and to the elevator. He waited while the elevator was coming. He looked around the empty hallways feeling like someone was watching him. The elevator dinged and opened. Mac stepped into the elevator and hit the "close door" button, but before the doors could close, someone stuck their arm in to get into the elevator. Mac reached to his side but he had not brought his weapon with him.

A man got into the elevator, but it was not "John". Mac knew he could not keep being nervous about everything. He could not stay locked up in his apartment and everyone he saw was not following him or trying to kill him. He looked at the guy as he moved to the other side of the elevator. Mac pressed the button for the floor that he was going to. He felt the inertia as the elevator started up toward the floor the landlord lived on. He did not want to say anything to the guy in the elevator. He was surprised at himself because of how few people he knew in his own building.

Mac got out of the elevator at the right floor. He paid close attention to whether that other guy got out or not, but he did not see him. He walked down to the landlord's apartment and knocked. He soon heard the locks on the door. Alfred was there with a beer bottle in his hand and from the smell and the look of him, Mac thought he must have spent all this time since he had been here drowning his sorrows. "I brought your keys back," Mac said.

The landlord took them. "Thanks," he said and threw them on the table close to the door. He looked at Mac. "You want anything else?"

"No."

Mac walked away from the apartment. He did not like the idea that the guy was getting drunk like that but he supposed it was none of his business as long as the guy did not disturb the peace or cause any trouble. Just as Mac had that thought, he heard loud music start up down there in the landlord's apartment. He stopped and looked around but then he shook his head and went on to the elevator. He pressed the down button and stood there waiting for the elevator again. He had the fleeting thought that he waited for elevators a whole lot in his life. Everywhere he went, he had to get into an elevator to get where he wanted to be, even at work.

The elevator doors opened and Mac got in but then he saw three people coming down the hall toward the elevator. He pressed the close door button and the doors closed before they got there. He did not think those people looked right because they were all dressed in black and he thought one of them was the guy who had ridden up in the elevator with him. He pressed the button for his floor and the elevator started down. He wondered what would be waiting for him when he got down to his floor. He stood to the side of the elevator so that no one could shoot him before he could move. He knew he was being panicky but he could not help it.

The elevator stopped and dinged. The doors opened and Mac got ready if anyone came in that door. He peeped around the edge of the elevator and then moved over into the doorway. He did not see anyone in the hallway so he went on out and headed for his apartment, taking his keys out as he went. As he arrived at the door, he heard the elevator ding again and then he saw someone coming down the other hall. He hurried and got the door open and got inside. He ran to his room and got his weapon, and then he heard someone break out the glass on his patio door.

Mac made sure his weapon was loaded and then moved over to the door of his bedroom. He knew there was someone in there and he thought it must be that hit woman, and the men in the hall were there to help her keep him from getting away. He wondered where his bodyguard was. He thought he was supposed to be helping him.

Mac stood beside the bedroom door and listened hard. Then he heard whoever was in the living room unlock the locks on the door. He locked the bedroom door and headed toward the other bedroom which he could enter from the other door in the bedroom. He ran through that bedroom to the larger window which had a fire escape. He did not like running from danger, but he thought five to one were not good odds for him, when he was the ONE, and especially when one of them was a hit woman.

Mac opened the window and climbed out onto the fire escape. He did not like heights in the first place, but it was also COLD out there on that fire escape, and his jacket was hanging on the coat rack. He put his weapon in his holster and headed down. His phone began ringing and he took his off his side. "Taylor," he answered.

"Just keep going down," someone said in an almost whisper.

Mac thought that must be John. "I thought you were supposed to be helping me," he said.

"I am."

The call ended and Mac kept going down. He heard someone step out onto the fire escape up above him. He started trying to go down faster, and he was getting out of breath faster in this cold air. It was a long way to the ground because he lived up high to get away from the noise of the city. He did not hear every siren that went by and every horn that honked from his apartment.

Just as Mac was going around one of the fire escape balconies, he heard someone hit the metal beside him and it sparked. He realized it was a bullet. They must have a silencer because he did not hear anything. He tried to go faster. He thought it would be even more eerie to be hit by a bullet that you did not even hear leave the gun. However, he did not think he had heard that gun when he was shot. The bullet travels so fast that one might not hear the sound before they are hit… and in this case, the gun had no sound.

As Mac continued down, he thought he heard more than one person on the fire escape and they were not talking to each other, only moving toward their goal…killing him. He knew they were with that hit woman. He had not seen her but he was sure she was nearby somewhere. He figured she would be waiting for him when he got down but he could not have his weapon ready while he was going down these steps.

By the time Mac got to the bottom of the fire escape, he knew he had at least three people coming down behind him. He jumped off the last step and started to run but then she was there on the sidewalk. Mac darted into the alley as a bullet split the air he was just occupying. When he got into the alley, John was there. He grabbed Mac by the arm and shoved him in front of him as the woman came into the alley entrance. John fired at her and she got out of his line of fire.

"Let's go!" John said in his whispery voice.

Mac was running down the alley and then there were two at the other end of the alley. "Looks like we're going to have to fight," John said.

Mac wished he would not be so calm and nonchalant about that. He had his weapon ready and fired behind them as the woman was coming into the alley. Then the two in front of them had weapons too. Mac and John got behind a dumpster. "We're trapped here!" Mac said.

"No, we're not," John said. "They won't fire at each other because they may hit her and she may hit them." He was typing in his phone as he was talking.

Mac looked behind them. They were between two dumpsters and he knew they could come up and just open fire on them. However, he heard a siren just then. "Come on!" John said. He grabbed Mac by the jacket and shoved him out of their hiding place. "We have to move!"

Mac was confused now but when they were out, they did not see anyone in the alley at the moment. They ran down the alley in the direction they had been going before. As they rounded the corner into an even darker alley, the other two were there. John grabbed one of them by the hand and jerked him around in a headlock, and brought out his weapon at the same time and shot the other one before Mac could even move. Then he knocked the one he was holding out.

Mac looked at the two on the ground and then at John. "Let's move!" John said.

Mac went with him, wondering who this guy was. They soon came out of that alley and arrived at the black Cadillac. "Get in!" John said as he went around to the driver's side.

Mac got in the car and they were on their way. "Who are you?" Mac demanded. "I want to know who you are!" He was still amazed at how fast the guy had taken down those two.

"Why does it matter who I am if I am trying to save your life?" John asked.

"Because, I don't want to be running around with a criminal."

"I'm not a criminal."

"So you're working with the police department?"

"I have friends in the police department."

"So that was one of them that came along out there…just by chance?"

"It's good to have friends."

Mac looked out the window. "So, where are we going?" he asked.

"They're tracking us."

Mac looked at him. "What?"

"They're tracking you, not me. They know exactly where you are."

"And just how do they know that?"

"Your phone and they also have a bug on you somewhere."

Mac was shocked. "How would they get a bug on me?" he asked.

"They're professionals," John said matter-of-factly. "Take the battery out of your phone."

"What if some of my team wants to get in touch with me?"

"Turn off the locator."

Mac took his phone and turned off the locator. "I'm sure they can override that," he said.

Just then, Mac's phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"You may have escaped for now, Detective Taylor, but you won't escape the next time."

Mac frowned as he heard the call end. He looked at John. "She disappeared before anyone could get her," John said. "She's not the kind who can be captured. The only way to stop her is death."

Mac knew that was true. He did not like to think of a person like that but he had seen them before. They would not stop killing people until they were dead and they would not surrender to the police. "So, do you know who she is and who hired her?" he asked.

"We know who she is but we don't know who hired her yet," John replied. "She is deeply coded and private."

Mac nodded. "Well, we need to figure this out because I can't keep running like this and staying away from my lab."

"Who said you were going to stay away from the lab? You're going to do what you normally do so that we can catch her."

"I'm going to be bait?"

"It's the only way."

Mac figured it was a plan and he would go along with it. He did not want this maniac running around the city and he did not want to keep looking over his shoulder and hiding.


	12. Chapter 12

John finally arrived at the precinct. "Why did you bring me here?" Mac asked. "I can't live at the lab."

"This is the safest place you can be," John said.

"I don't think she would try to come after me at the apartment again."

"Don't sell her short. She knows her time is getting short here and she is wanting to get this job done."

Mac looked at the precinct building and then at John. "Alright, I'll stay here for the night, but I want to talk to Christine again."

"You'll get to talk to her again later. Right now, we don't want this woman tracing any calls that you get to your phone."

Mac knew he was just being stubborn. "I know you're trying to help me, but this is not easy," he said.

"Hopefully, it will be over soon," John said.

Mac got out of the car and went into the precinct. Don Flack was sitting at his desk. "Hey, Mac," he said. "What are you doing back? I thought you were going home to rest."

"Someone broke into my apartment and would have killed me if it hadn't been for…a friend."

Don stood up. "What?" he asked.

"I want to get the team and go to my apartment and see if we can find anything that will lead to this hit woman."

"Woman?"

Don was surprised as Mac headed for the elevator. He followed him and got into the elevator too. "What do you mean someone broke into your apartment?" Don asked. "You didn't call."

"I couldn't," Mac said. "I was running down the fire escape."

"And how do you know that this person is a woman?"

"Because someone told me it's a woman."

"And just who told you that and how do they know it?"

"It is a long story, Don."

"One I'd like to hear. I have never seen the day where you would not call us if something happened."

The elevator doors opened and they went out at the lab. As they went into the lab, Danny was there as well as Sheldon. "Hey!" Don said. "Guess what just happened?"

Mac looked at him. "Will you calm down?" he asked.

"No! I don't want to calm down." Don looked at Danny and Sheldon. "Somebody broke into his apartment and tried to kill him and he didn't even call us!"

Sheldon's smile faded. "When did this happen?" he asked.

"Earlier this evening," Mac said. "I had help from someone and I didn't have a chance to call you guys."

Danny was trying to absorb all that. "What did they do?" he asked.

Mac blew out a breath and thought a moment. "I don't even know where to start," he said. "All this stuff that has happened is connected to this. I don't know what the point of drugging me was unless she just wanted to humiliate me first…or the person who hired her."

"Somebody hired someone to kill you?" Danny asked.

"Yes, according to that guy."

"What guy?" Don asked.

"They guy who was in the elevator with us before wearing the black suit?"

Don frowned. "Him?"

"Yes, him. Believe me, that guy knows what he is doing and there's another guy who works with him…some computer genius. He has a stiff neck and he acts odd too. Neither of them will tell much about themselves. I know the guy in the black suit's name is John. The other guy scanned my apartment and found a bug."

"What did he do with it?" Danny asked.

"I don't know. He took it with him, I suppose. Let's just go to the apartment and see what we can find."

"What about Christine?" Sheldon asked. "Is she safe?"

"Yes. They took her to a safe place," Mac said.

"You trust them?"

"Yes. And they have friends in the police department too…not in this precinct, but another one. I don't know which."

Don folded his arms. "So we're going to have to trust these mystery men?" he asked.

"Yes. That mystery man saved my life. He took those two guys down before I could even move."

"Military?"

"I don't know, but he's fast and he knows who the woman is but they don't know who has hired her to kill me."

"And he has friends in the police department?"

"Yes." Mac blew out a breath. "Let's go and get this started. He dropped me off here after we escaped with our lives, but I'm not staying here all night. We have to find out who did this if we can."

"He could have at least told you who the woman was," Don declared. "We might track her down if we knew who she was."

"Well, he didn't share that information but maybe they will soon."

They went to Mac's apartment and found the door slightly open. They drew their weapons and went inside to make sure no one was in the apartment but there was no one. Mac pointed. "She broke out that door over there again," he said. "I heard it when I was in the bedroom. There were four men in the hall." Mac pointed to the carpet. "I want this place scanned for hairs or anything. I don't think they could have left any fingerprints."

Mac walked into the bedroom. "I went through here and I went out the fire escape," he said as he went through the other bedroom.

Don shook his head as he looked at Mac. "I still can't believe you didn't call me," he said.

"Don, it has nothing to do with any confidence I have in you or the team. I told you, those other two guys were here. I had been over to Mindy's apartment to…help her."

"You went over there?"

"Yes, and I went to the landlord's apartment to give the keys back to him. I had gone to Mindy's apartment and I had to have the key."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She had cuffed herself to her bed and she couldn't get loose. So after I got that done, I went to take the keys back to the landlord and that was when all this happened."

They searched the whole apartment and Danny even vacuumed the floors to make sure they got any hairs that might have been dropped or anything else that could have DNA on it. Danny studied the balcony door that had been broken out. "I don't see how she broke out this whole door like this," he said. "There's not even any jagged edges left around it, and it looks like it all just fell straight down, not like it was hit from the outside."

Sheldon looked at the door frame. "You're right," he said. "There's so much new technology out there these days, she could have used something that we don't even know exists."

Danny looked at Sheldon. "Are you saying we're behind in the technical game?"

"Absolutely." Sheldon looked at Danny and smiled. "Hey, I don't know of anything that can do this."

"Neither do I."

When they were done there, they went back to the lab. Danny poured the contents from the vacuum. "Just look at this," he said.

Sheldon looked at the almost non-existent contents. "What's wrong with that?" he asked.

Danny snickered. "You know what would be in this if we vacuumed our apartment?" he asked. "This is just too clean. If I vacuumed our apartment like there, there would be all kinds of crumbs, and candy, dried peas, wads of Barbie hair, and anything else you can think of."

Sheldon smiled. "Well, Mac is not at his apartment very much. I guess it stays clean."

"Too clean. Everybody needs to get their place a little dirty sometimes."

They stared at the contents and found a long, blond hair. "That could belong to Christine," Danny said.

Sheldon got the magnifying glass and looked at the end of the hair. "It has a root at the end, so we can analyze it to see who it belongs to."

Danny picked up a short hair from the pile. "That could belong to Mac but it doesn't have a root," he said. He shook his head. "There's nothing else here."

Sheldon began the analysis of the hair DNA. "Maybe this will tell us something if it doesn't belong to Christine," he said.

Mac was sitting in his office thinking. He wanted to take Christine away after this. They would get married and they would spend a honeymoon somewhere…somewhere that his phone would not ring and interrupt them with a crime scene and he did not have to be at the office.

The phone on Mac's desk rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac?"

Mac sat up. "Christine? Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I'm just a little bored."

"Do you know where you are?"

"No. I was blindfolded until we got here."

"I'm sorry about this."

"Oh, Mac, don't say that. This is not your fault."

"When we get out of this, we're going away together. Anywhere you want to go."

"I don't know where I want to go, but if I'm with you, I will be happy."

"We're going somewhere that we won't be interrupted by phones or anything."

"Sounds wonderful. Maybe we can share a kiss without the phone ringing."

"I'm sure we can. We'll make sure they're turned off."

"So, are we going to get married?"

"Absolutely. When this is over, we're going to get married and run away together."

"When are we going to pick out our wedding bands?"

"As soon as possible."

"I love you, Mac, and I miss you."

"I love you too, and it won't be for long."

"I can't sleep. There's a dog here. I think he's a German Shepherd. He's on guard."

"At least you're not all alone."

"He seems to know what I'm saying if I talk to him."

"Probably."

"So, what are you doing?"

"I'm sitting here at the office waiting on analysis."

"You think you have something?"

"Don't know yet." Mac did not want to tell her about what happened at his apartment. "We'll see."

Christine was quiet a moment. "You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" she asked.

"How do you know?"

"I know you, Mac Taylor."

"They broke into my apartment tonight and we're trying to see if we can find something that will lead to that woman."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks to our mystery helper."

"Do you know anything about these guys?"

"No, but you can trust them."

"I realize that." Christine was quiet a moment. "I think I'll just have something to eat. I guess he might let me call you again tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night."

Mac hung up the phone. He was glad Christine was safe but he wanted to see her. However, he knew he had plenty of time to see her…if he survived this ordeal. They intended to spend the rest of their lives together.

Danny soon came to Mac's office. "Mac, we found a long blond hair in your apartment," he said. "We ran the DNA and…" He gave Mac the computer screen he was holding.

Mac frowned as he was looking at it. "That's her, alright," he said. "That's the landlord's wife." He looked at Danny. "Maria Fortner?" He shook his head. "How did she get married to him with the name Teresa?"

"Mac, there's no telling how many people are running around in this country with a fake ID," Danny said.

"I know that, but she was right there in my building and I didn't even know it. She's a hit woman."

"Maybe you should ask your landlord about her habits or something. Maybe he could tell you something that would help."

"Maybe he could." Mac looked at Danny. "The last I saw him, he was getting drunk."

"Might not be a good time to talk to him now, huh?"

"I don't know but it's late and I don't want to be waking up any groggy drunks tonight. We can talk to him in the morning."

"So, what are you going to do in the mean time?"

"Try to get some sleep here I guess."

Danny started to leave the office and then turned around. "Oh, by the way, that guy who was killed in the Christmas display…he was killed by his mistress. They had been having an affair and he called her there to break it off and she was so furious that she even fought with him and stabbed him with one of those trumpets."

Mac shook his head. "Well, I guess he should have stayed in his place."

Danny left the office. Mac walked over to the couch. It would not be comfortable but he supposed he could tolerate it tonight. He laid down on the couch and stared out the window. He wondered what that maniac would try next…and he was sure she would try again. People like that were not prone to give up until they were either stopped permanently or they achieved their goal. He hoped the former would be the way it ended.

As Mac was about to fall asleep, he could see the Empire State Building blinking its Christmas theme. He hoped they got this situation solved so that he and Christine could enjoy Christmas together.


	13. Chapter 13

**I hope you guys will send me some reviews. I like getting your reviews and I hope you like this chapter. miss37**

Mac was suddenly awakened when his phone rang with a text message. He sat up and looked at it. It was about a crime scene. Mac rubbed his face and yawned. He stood up and stretched as he looked around to see if anyone else was in the lab but everyone had gone home. He supposed they would get the text and be there by the time he was.

Mac got his forensics kit and headed for the elevator. He waited for the elevator and went down to the parking garage where the Avalanche was. He looked at his watch again. It was a little after 2 in the morning, as usual. He did not know why people always called in murders this time of the morning but he was on his way. He did not know how to call his "bodyguard", so he supposed he would just have to see if he was paying attention.

As Mac was leaving the parking garage, Don came from the elevator yawning. He saw the Avalanche pulling out and wondered where Mac was going. He thought he was staying in his office tonight. He still did not like some strangers telling Mac what to do, and he figured those guys operated above the law…or thought they did. He did not like people who took the law into their own hands.

Mac saw no sign of that black Cadillac when he got out onto the street. He wondered what this crime scene would be about. Just then his phone rang. He pressed the button so he could talk in the Avalanche. "Taylor," he answered.

"You're on your way to a fake crime scene," John said in his raspy voice.

Mac frowned. "What?"

"Just keep going. They're going to try and ambush you at this fake crime scene."

"And I assumed you're going to be there?"

"Yes."

"How did they get a fake message to my phone that looks like it came from the dispatch?"

"They can do anything."

"So what is the plan?"

"We'll have to wing it until we see what they're going to do."

Mac did not like the sound of that. "Are we going to have any backup?" he asked. "I want to call Don Flack and get him there."

"Go ahead but you might get more people killed. It's easier to get one out than several."

"Don knows how to handle himself. He's been in bad situations plenty of times."

"I'm sure he has. Just go one like you're doing and make sure you have your bulletproof vest on."

"I do."

"Good. We're about to catch a hit woman."

The call ended and Mac considered whether he wanted to let Don in on this. He knew John knew what he was doing but he knew Don knew what he was doing too. He thought John did not want Don there so that he would not get him while he was at it. Mac thought John must not be completely out of the criminal element if he was operating in a secret manner like he was. However, he knew the man had saved his life. He must deserve some credit for that.

As Mac got closer to the crime scene, he was nervous. He thought of Christine. He did not want to be killed like this before he even got to marry her. He thought maybe they should get married and move away from New York. He thought he wanted to retire. He did not want to be in danger all the time and gone from home all the time after he got married again. He had put Claire through that, but he did not want to do that again. He hoped Christine would want to have another kind of life than what they had.

Mac arrived at the crime scene and looked around the area. He was at an abandoned warehouse. His phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Get out of the truck," John said.

"Why? So they can shoot me full of holes?"

"No. She wants to get you herself and she always aims for the heart."

Mac frowned. "What if she's using armor penetrating bullets?"

"Trust me."

Mac blew out a breath and then got out of the Avalanche. He moved around to the back of the truck and waited to see what would happen. He drew his weapon and looked to see if he could see John's black Cadillac but he did not see anything. He knew he must be around here somewhere though. He seemed to always know what was going on.

Suddenly, Mac saw some movement at the corner of the warehouse. He stared and saw the figure move to the next corner. He could tell it was a woman. She was dressed in what looked like a black body suit which definitely revealed that she was a woman. "Stop right there!" Mac yelled.

The woman fired at Mac twice but he got behind the Avalanche as the bullets hit the back corner of it. He moved around the Avalanche toward the front, and suddenly, John was behind him. Mac jumped as he saw him. "Are you trying to get yourself shot?" Mac asked.

"I would prefer not to," John replied. "But you have five guys coming up behind you to help her, so we have to move from here."

Mac moved closer to the front of the Avalanche and looked around the front. "She's over there somewhere," he said.

"We have to move," John whispered.

John started moving toward the area where the woman was, and Mac started to follow him although he thought it was crazy, but they could not stay where they were. As Mac got from behind the Avalanche, he was thankful he had the bulletproof vest on because the woman shot him twice right in the chest. Mac fell backward and John fired five rounds in the direction of the assailant. He grabbed Mac by the arm and helped him up and they ran, firing into the alley as they went that way.

John and Mac finally reached the other wall. Mac held his chest and groaned with the pain of the impact of those bullets. "She knows you're protected now," John said. "She won't aim for your chest next time."

Mac frowned. "Thanks for that warning," he said. He got his phone and called Don and told him what was going on.

"I'm on my way," Don said as he was leaving the bathroom. He had just taken a shower and was about to go to bed.

Mac put his phone away. "So what do we do now?" he asked.

"We move," John said. "We do the unexpected."

Mac was surprised when John went around the corner of the alley where the hit woman was supposedly hiding. He knew the guy wanted to catch her, but he did not want to get killed in the process. When they got into the alley, the woman was running the other way. She knew she was becoming the hunted. She was overconfident after all the things she had done to Mac and had underestimated him and his friends.

As they were going through the alley, Mac heard sirens. He knew Don was coming and he would see those others out there. Mac wanted to get this hit woman. He remembered another time that he had tracked down a hit woman. He had shot her. He hoped he could get this one without killing her because he wanted to know who hired her. If they were not found out, they could just hire someone else.

The woman left the alley and went to the left. Mac and John snuck up to the edge of the building to look. The alley she had gone down was darker than where they were now so they could not see her in that black outfit she was wearing. "Now what?" Mac asked. "She could be down there waiting for us."

John pressed his ear and whispered something. He looked at Mac. "Let's just see," he said.

Mac was getting his phone ready and bringing up his infrared software that could detect body heat. He had used it before to catch someone in the dark. He squatted and held the phone up at the corner of the building. He did not see anything for a moment but then he saw that the woman was moving down the alley and staying in the shadows. "She's still going toward the other end," Mac whispered.

Mac and John went into the alley and got on the opposite side from where the woman was. She fired at them, but did not hit them. Mac saw her go around the corner of that alley and they moved on down the alley to pursue her. When they got to the other end of the alley, she had gone to the right and was running down a long pier toward a boat dock where several boats were moored. "If she gets in one of those boats, we'll lose her," Mac said.

John fired at the woman, but did not hit her and she fired back at them. "Stop!" Mac yelled as they stopped beside the poles at the beginning of the pier. "N.Y.P.D.!"

"I don't think she's going to stop," John said.

Mac looked at him. "I have to identify myself anyway," he replied.

They headed down the pier as the woman was getting closer to the docks. She went around the corner of the pier that went on around toward the boat docks. Mac and John were in full pursuit now. They ran down the pier and around the corner of the dock. The woman turned to fire at them again. She fired four times and then she was out of ammunition. She started running again.

Mac and John went after her faster now because she was not taking the time to reload. Mac's phone rang, but he did not have time to be distracted with a call. The woman got down the pier and jumped into a boat. Mac was sure she had that waiting for her there. "Stop!" he yelled as they arrived at the place but she was pulling away. Mac aimed and fired. He saw her body jerk as the bullet hit her. However, she kept going.

John fired and hit her in the leg because he realized she was wearing a bulletproof vest under that outfit. She gasped out loud as the bullet hit her but she was getting further away. John moved over to another boat and jumped in. "You coming?" he asked.

Mac got into the boat, dreading that cold wind that would be hitting them going across that water. They were soon speeding across the water after the assailant. "I hit her pretty bad in the leg," John said. "She won't get far."

Mac knew that was true. She would most likely bleed to death before they could get to her. He just hoped they could get her before she died so maybe they could get her to tell who hired her.

Soon, the woman stopped at a beach and got out of the boat. Mac could see that she was having trouble walking. John got the boat up there and they got out. "Stop now!" Mac yelled.

The woman looked around at him with a look of rage. "Never!"

Mac went on after her and finally ran her down and tackled her. She scratched his face but he grabbed her hands as John was coming up. "Handcuff her!" Mac said.

John got the cuffs and cuffed the woman's hands as Mac got her turned over on her stomach. Then he turned her over to try and stop the bleeding in her leg. "Tell me who hired you!" Mac demanded.

"I'm not telling you anything!" the woman said.

"Tell me!" He pressed on the wound on her leg. "You may die anyway! Tell me who hired you!"

She looked at Mac and spit at him. Mac glared at her. He had the thought of letting her bleed to death but he could not do that. He looked around to tell John to call some help, but he was not there. Mac looked all around him but John was nowhere to be seen. He could not believe he just left without helping him with this, but he heard sirens coming. Mac sighed. He could not help but wonder who that guy had been.

Mac looked at the woman again. "Tell me who hired you," he said as he could see that she was about to go into shock. He could not stop all the bleeding because the bullet had hit an artery. "Please!"

She looked at him. "You wouldn't be able to prove it," she said.

"Just tell me!"

"John Pressman."

Mac's shock showed on his face. "What? You can't be serious!"

"I don't have any reason to lie about it. He wants your job."

Mac frowned but he was still shocked. "And he paid you?" he asked.

"He paid me half and I would have gotten the rest after it was done. You won't be able to prove it."

"We'll see about that."

The woman looked at Mac. "Tell Alfred that I really loved him," she said. "That wasn't an act. Will you tell him?"

Mac stared at her a moment. "I'll tell him." He watched as the woman took her last breath and died.

"Mac!" Don Flack yelled as he was coming down the hill on the beach.

Mac looked up at him. "She's dead," he said.

Don stopped and looked at her. Did she tell you anything?" he asked.

Mac nodded. "Yeah," he said. "She told me who hired her."

"Who?"

Mac sighed and looked at Don. "We'll talk about it at the precinct."


	14. Chapter 14

**I hope you all like this chapter and I hope you will send reviews. :) I thought this would be the last chapter, but it looks like there is going to be more. **

Mac and Don arrived back at the precinct. "So, what did she say?" Don asked as they were in the elevator.

"Something that is hard to believe," Mac said.

Don figured Mac would tell him when he was ready. "You better do something about that scratch there," he said, referring to the scratch on Mac's face.

"I know," Mac replied.

The elevator doors opened and they went out into the lab. It was almost daylight now so Lindsey was there as well as Jo. "What happened to you?" Jo asked as she saw Mac.

"It's not that bad," Mac said. "We have a problem. I want you two in the conference room."

Don and Lindsey followed Mac to the conference room after he got the case file and Jo did too after she picked up a First Aid kit. They all gathered in the conference room and sat down. Jo sat beside Mac so she could put disinfectant on the scratch on his face.

"What's going on?" Don asked. His curiosity was about to get the best of him.

"She told me who hired her." Mac opened the case folder and leaned on the table. "Maria Fortner." He shook his head. "She was posing as the wife of my landlord, although their marriage was legitimate." He remembered that he had promised her that he would tell Alfred that she really loved him. He would have to fulfill that promise since he had said he would. After all, she was dying.

"Who hired her?" Don asked. "I want to arrest someone."

"John Pressman."

Jo's mouth dropped open along with everyone else. "You're not serious," she said. "You don't believe her, do you?"

"Why would she lie?" Mac asked.

"Mac, that's the guy who would have taken over your position here if you had not come back," Jo declared.

"I know that."

"Why would he do something like that?" Lindsey asked.

"She said he wanted my job," Mac said. "First he had her try to humiliate me and make it look like someone was trying to break me and Christine up, or make it look like they were after Christine too, but all the time, he was after me. It would sure explain how she could send a fake crime scene text."

The others considered that. "You're right there," Don said. "I had that text checked and it definitely came from dispatch, but the dispatcher said that he didn't send it."

"Then how did it get sent?" Mac asked.

"They're looking into that now. There are a few minutes when the dispatcher goes on break that the relief person is coming to the room that someone maybe could have done it. I mean, no one would notice if he walked into the building."

"Right," Mac said. "You need to check and see if anyone saw him around there or anyone else who didn't belong."

"OW!" Mac exclaimed as Jo touched an extremely raw place on his face. He looked at her. "That stings."

"Oh, be quiet," Jo said. "Take it like a man."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Anybody would have yelled at that."

"If it burns, it's working…at least that was what Mama always said."

"So, we have to find proof that he actually did this," Mac said, getting back to the subject.

"I'll get on that now," Don said and stood up.

"Be careful. Don't let anyone know why you're asking."

"I won't."

Don left the room. Mac looked at Jo and Lindsey. "Let's keep this quiet, because we don't want him to get wind that we're suspecting him," he said. He rubbed his chest where the two bullets had hit the bulletproof vest. Of course, the vest had been entered into evidence. "I'm glad I had that vest on."

Mac stood up and walked over to the window. "Something wrong?" Jo asked.

"I still haven't heard from Christine," Mac said. "I don't even know where she is."

"What?"

Mac realized Jo did not even know that Christine had been taken to a safe place. He looked at Jo. "It's a long story, but they took her to a safe place so that the killer couldn't get to her," he said.

"Who is 'they'?" Lindsey asked.

"That guy who's been helping me."

"What guy?" Jo asked.

Mac frowned. "The guy we saw in the apartment building with the black suit," he said.

Lindsey was confused because she had not known any of this. "I'm totally lost," she said.

"Well, he's some sort of undercover agent and he has friends in the police department. Somehow he knew she was going to try and kill me and he knew who she was."

"How did he know?" Jo asked.

"I don't know that, but he saved my life twice. His 'associate' found the bug in my apartment."

"So now we have to prove it."

"Right."

Don went down to the dispatch and found the dispatcher that was on duty when Mac was called on that fake crime scene. "Hey," he said. "I have to ask you some questions."

"Sure," Scott, the dispatcher said.

"Did you see John Pressman around here when you went on your break?"

Scott considered that. "I don't remember," he said. "I was kinda in a hurry when I got my break. Nature was calling loudly."

"Did you see anyone else around that doesn't belong here?"

"There are always people walking around."

"Well, who took your place when you went on break?" Don asked, getting a little aggravated.

Scott thought a moment. "Mary did," he said. "Mary Wicket."

Don wrote that down. "Thanks."

Don went to find Mary and asked her if she saw John Pressman around when she took Scott's place at the dispatch. "I don't think I know him," Mary said. "I've only been working here about two weeks."

Don thought everywhere he went was a dead end. "Thanks." He thought there had to be someone who saw John around here…or maybe he had someone do it for him. Anyone could have sent the text if they were in the dispatch. He looked at Mary. "Who else was on duty around here when you were here?"

"Scott was and Ben and Faye."

Don wrote that down. He did not know if it would help anything but he went to find the other three. Ben had been there for many years. He thought a moment when Don asked him about Pressman. "Yes, I think I did see him tonight," he said. "I wondered what he was doing down here but I didn't think much of it. After all, he's a high official. I guess that means he can pretty much go where he wants, right?"

"Right," Don replied. "Did you see him go into the dispatch room over there?"

Ben thought a moment. "No, I was too busy. I just saw him walk by, but he was going that way."

Don wrote that down. It was the closest they had come to getting any evidence. They could at least question him if Mac was brave enough to ask for a warrant. He was sure he would be if he thought it was enough. Mac had never backed down from a challenge.

Don went back up to the lab and told Mac what he had found out. Mac was sitting at his desk leaning back in his chair. He considered that. "We have to have more than that," he said. "He can deny it and we don't have anything that says he did this."

"Then what are we going to do?" Don asked. "Wait until he hires someone else?"

"We try to get one of those goons of Maria's to talk, and Adam can keep trying to figure out how she was hired for this. He might be able to trace something down. We get her cell phone and let him analyze that…see if we can find anything in there."

"Adam's not here yet."

Mac picked up his desk phone. "He will be."

"I'll go and see if I can find out anything else," Don said. "I'll question those guys that didn't come in dead."

"Good."

Adam was sleeping when his phone rang. He grabbed it off the table as he was startled out of his sleep. "Hello," he said.

"Adam, I need you to get here as soon as possible," Mac said.

"Yes, sir. I'll be there right away."

Mac hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. He wanted to talk to Christine. He was tired of her being out of touch. He did not understand why John had not brought her back. He might think Pressman was not finished yet.

Mac frowned as he thought of Pressman. He got up and headed for the elevator. Jo saw him walking toward the elevator and as fast as he was walking, she knew he must have had some idea. "He's going somewhere," she said to Lindsey.

"Why would that guy think he could kill Mac and get his job?" Lindsey asked. "That is just crazy. Does he not think we could figure it out?"

"Maybe he thinks he's above suspicion. He should know better than that. He wants the job because it pays more than he makes…most likely double."

"I sure am glad Mac came back and he did not get that job."

Jo looked at Lindsey. "Me too," she said. She had not even really thought of that. "Wow, we could have had a boss who would stoop to anything to get what he wants."

"Very unlike Mac."

Mac got into the elevator and pressed the floor where John Pressman's office was. Just as the elevator started up, Mac's phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Don't do it," John whispered in his raspy voice.

Mac frowned. "Don't do what?"

"Don't confront him yet."

"Why not? I want him to know that we know he's involved in this."

"He's going to know soon enough."

"I want to know where Christine is," Mac said. "Why haven't you let her go?"

"I'm not holding her against her will. We're trying to keep her safe until this is over. If she leaves now, she could be in danger. They will use her to get to you."

"How do you know all this, and how did you know I was going up to see Pressman?"

"I already told you…I know things."

"I'm going to find out who you are."

"You'll be wasting your time. I don't exist."

Mac frowned with that response. "Can't I at least talk to Christine?" he asked.

"She'll call you later. Just don't tip Pressman off yet."

The elevator doors opened and Mac stepped out. He looked toward Pressman's office. "I suppose it's up to you but if you tip him off now, we'll never get him because he will get the brass on his side," John said.

Mac knew he was right. "Alright, I'll go along with you, but I want to talk to Christine like you said," he said.

"You will."

The call ended and Mac got back into the elevator. He glared at Pressman's office door as the elevator doors were closing. He would have to talk to the Commissioner. He had not been back to him since that issue with the drugs. Instead of going back to the lab, he went to the Commissioner's office. He did not have to wait since it was so early in the morning.

"Good morning," Commissioner Reagan said. "You have some new information? I sure have heard a lot of talk about what's been going on. You've been all over the city."

"Well, I found out that a hit woman named Maria Fortner was trying to kill me and she was hired by someone," Mac said. He gave the Commissioner the file on the case.

"So do you know who hired her?"

When he did not get a response to that, Commissioner Reagan looked over his glasses at Mac. "Well?" he said.

Mac looked at him. "She gave me a name before she died," he said.

"I assume it's someone you don't want to mention?"

"I don't have any proof…yet."

"So, why don't you tell me who it is?"

Mac did not like being stared at by the Commissioner. It made him feel like he was in the Principal's office. "I don't even know if it's true," Mac said.

Commissioner Reagan stared at him a moment. "Is it someone I know?" he asked.

"Yes, but I don't have any proof. I don't want to get anything started until I get some sort of proof. She could have been lying."

"I want to know the name anyway so I can be aware of it."

"John Pressman."

Reagan leaned forward and stared at Mac. Mac swallowed hard. He thought he was about to chew him out. "Are you serious?" he asked.

"That's what she said," Mac said. "She said he wanted my job because it pays double what he makes."

"I have known John Pressman for a long time and that was why he was in the first position to take your job when you decided to leave before."

"I know that."

"You're definitely going to need some proof and I don't want this getting out around the precinct."

"The only people who know it are on my team and…" Mac did not know if he wanted to mention that guy in the suit.

"And what?"

"My team knows about it and we're looking into it…quietly."

"It better be quietly. If this gets out before there is any proof, I am going to hold you responsible."

"Yes, sir."

"And it will bring some consequences."

Mac hoped nothing leaked out. "Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

Mac stood up feeling like he should solute but he left the office. He did not like being reprimanded by the Commissioner. He went back to the lab where Adam was now arriving. "I got here as fast as I could," he said.

"Good," Mac said. "I have some work for you to do but first I have to talk to all of you."

Adam followed Mac into the lab where Jo and Lindsey were. They had the bulletproof vest now. "Listen," Mac said. "You have to keep this situation between only us. All the evidence that comes through about this is only to be seen by us. If any word gets out that we suspect John Pressman, I'm going to be in the fire, and I don't want to experience that. The Commissioner does not want anything about this to leak out. You have to keep a tight lid on this."

"It will be the tightest," Jo said.

"Make sure these folders and everything stay under lock and key. Adam, you need to encrypt any work that you do."

"Yes, sir," Adam said. "What am I looking for?"

"I'll show you."

When Mac was done with Adam, he went to his office and called Don. "Flack," he answered.

"Don, make sure you don't let anything leak out about this," Mac said. "The Commissioner is going to have my hide if anything gets out about this without proof."

"I'm keeping it very secret."

"Good."

Mac hung up the phone and blew out a breath. There was only so much he could do to keep things from leaking out. Things had leaked out before and he had no idea how…but he hoped it did not happen this time or he would be in hot water.


	15. Chapter 15

As Mac was sitting at his desk writing out a report, his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Get up and get out of your office," John said in his quiet voice.

Mac frowned. "What?"

"Get out of there now. Don't take the elevator, take the stairs. Go now!"

"Why? What is going on?"

"I'll explain while you're moving."

"Are my people in danger?"

"No. Just move, now!"

Mac got up and grabbed his coat on his way out of the office. He put it on as he was moving toward the stairwell. "What is going on?" he asked into the phone.

"Get to those stairs, Detective Taylor," John said.

Mac hurried to the stairs and started down. "Where am I going?" he asked.

"You're coming to the parking garage," John said. "I'm waiting for you."

"Are you going to tell me what is going on?"

"When you're safe."

Mac could not believe it. "My people better be safe," he said.

"I assure you, they are."

Danny, Lindsey and Jo were in the lab when armed soldiers came into the lab area. Jo walked out to them. "What's going on?" she asked.

"We're looking for Detective Mac Taylor," one of the men said.

Jo looked toward Mac's office. "He was here a few minutes ago. What is this about?"

"We need to know where he is now."

"I don't know, but we've been working on a case. Maybe he's in the computer lab."

"Where's that?"

Jo led them around to the computer lab but of course, Mac was not there. "Adam, have you seen Mac?" Jo asked.

"I saw him go by a few minutes ago," Adam said. "He was putting his coat on. I assumed he was heading out."

"Out? Where?"

"I wouldn't know. Why? What's going on?"

Jo looked at the men who had come in there with her. "I'm trying to figure that out," she said. "Will you guys tell us why you are looking for Mac? We have a right to know."

"At approximately O-six hundred this morning, someone fitting Detective Taylor's description entered a military base, identifying himself as Detective Taylor and showing his military ID, proceeded to a government office, where he killed two personnel and stole documents," the one in charge said.

"What? How is that possible?"

"He was wearing his dress uniform and showed his military ID."

Jo was shocked. "Mac would never do that!" she declared. "You have got the wrong man."

"We need to talk to him and we need to know where he is now and if you're hiding him, you will be prosecuted."

"I don't know where he is."

"Does he always run off without you all knowing where he is?

"He does sometimes."

Adam was shocked at the whole thing. "What about the robbery?" he asked. "Didn't Mac say his dress uniform was stolen?"

Jo almost gasped. "Yes he did," she said. "His dress uniform was stolen recently when his apartment was broken into."

The officer looked at Jo. "Was this reported?" he asked.

"Yes. It is in our reports about this case we're still working on. Someone has been trying to kill Detective Taylor. They hired a hit woman to kill him and she has been stopped but the situation is not over yet."

"We need to see those reports to verify this but we still need to talk to Detective Taylor so we can know where he was at the time of this robbery and murder."

"What kind of documents were stolen?"

"Military personnel documents."

"Why would he want those?"

"We don't know that. We need to talk to him."

"Well, he's obviously not here now and we know he did not do this because he was here at that time."

"You saw him here at that time?"

"He came in at…well, he was with Don Flack at around that time because he was chasing down the woman who had been trying to kill him."

"You need to contact Detective Taylor and tell him to give himself up."

Jo got her phone and dialed Mac's number…

Mac was almost to the parking garage when his phone rang. He did not know whether to answer it or not but he looked and saw that it was Jo. He thought he better not answer that right now so he did not. He went on down to the garage where John was waiting close to the stairwell door with the black Cadillac. "Get in the trunk," John said as the trunk popped up.

Mac stared at him…but only a moment. He got into the trunk and closed it. He did not like the idea of riding around in the trunk, but he stayed there until John opened it to let him out. "Get in the car now," he said.

Mac got into the car in the back seat. "What is going on?" he asked. "Jo tried to call me and I didn't answer it."

"Smart move. Take the battery out of your phone now."

Mac removed the battery from the phone. "Are you going to tell me what is going on?"

Jo ended the call as Mac did not answer and she got the voice mail. She looked at the armed soldiers who had come into the lab. "He didn't answer," she said.

"Does he have a habit of doing that?" he asked.

"No. I'm telling you, I don't know where he is."

"Well, we're going to find him. If you hear from him, tell him he better not resist when we find him."

"I will."

The soldiers moved out of the computer lab. Jo looked at Adam. "Can you track him?" she whispered.

"I can try," Adam replied. "What is going on?"

"I don't know, but we better find out fast!"

"Didn't he think that John Pressman had something to do with trying to kill him?"

"Yes. This has to be his doing. We have to figure this out."

"What!" Mac exclaimed as John told him what had happened. "Are you kidding?"

"Do I look like someone who kids around?" John asked.

"You shouldn't have taken me out of there. I could have explained it to them!"

"Explained what? That you were with me chasing down that hit woman?"

Mac's mouth dropped open. He had lost track of the time. "So, what are we going to do? Am I going into hiding?"

"Absolutely not. We're going to prove you didn't do it."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Well, you didn't do it, did you?"

Mac frowned. "No, I didn't."

"Then it should be easy. We'll figure out who really did it and we'll give them the evidence."

Mac rubbed his face. "That explanation is too simple to actually work."

"Not when you have resources."

"My resources are all at that lab."

"But if you had stayed there, you would have been arrested and taken no telling where and you would not have been able to prove your innocence."

Mac had to admit that was right. "So, do I get to see Christine now?" he asked.

"Yes."

Mac thought that guy gave short answers. He could not believe all this was happening. Now they would think he went into that place and killed two people and stole documents. "What documents were stolen?" he asked. "What do they think I would want with them?"

"They were military personnel documents," John replied.

"What? Whose documents?"

"Don't know that yet."

Mac frowned. "This is crazy. They can't think I would do this."

"How would they know you wouldn't do it? They don't know you."

Mac looked at John. "And where did you come from?" he asked. "Why are you so secretive?"

"Because there are people who don't understand what I do," John said. "They would think that I'm a criminal."

"Aren't you? You run from the law, you operate where they don't see you, you kill people."

"Sometimes it's kill or be killed. I'm sure you've been in those situations, and if it weren't for me, you would have had a lot more murders to solve."

Mac frowned. "Why don't you work with the police department then?" he asked.

"They don't like someone like me stepping on their toes and they would want to take over. It's much easier when you can control what you're doing."

"No rules, huh?"

"If that's what you want to call it."

"Everyone needs rules."

"Sometimes they get in the way when you're in a problem like this. Don't you agree?"

Mac looked out the window. He had to admit, they had not exactly followed police procedure during that chase.

Adam tried to track Mac's cell phone. "He must have taken the battery out," he said.

"That means he must know what's going on," Jo whispered. "He must have left before they got here."

"How would he know?"

Jo swallowed hard with the thought of that. "I don't know, Adam, but I know Mac did not do this."

"It's ridiculous anyway. Why would he want to steal personnel files?"

"I don't know why anyone would. Maybe stealing the documents was just a cover up for committing the murders. Maybe the murders were the real reason."

"For what?"

"Adam, there are too many unanswered questions in this. I would like to know how Mac knew they were coming and I would like to know why John Pressman wanted to kill Mac. There must be more to it than just wanting his job."

"I think you're right," Adam said.

"I want to know if he is in his office. I have to go and see the commissioner."

As Jo turned around, Russ Josephson was walking into the lab area. "Morning, Jo," he said. "I think we have a problem."

Jo folded her arms and stared at Russ. "You have no idea," she said.

"I think we need to talk."

"I don't think there's anything to talk about. I don't know where Mac is and I know he did not do this."

"Let's talk anyway."

Jo followed Russ to the conference room. He stared at her. "Are you sure you don't know where he is?" he asked. "Have you tried to track him?"

"His phone is off and the battery is out," Jo said.

"That means he knows what's going on, Jo."

"Russ, you know Mac Taylor did not do this!"

"It doesn't matter what I know." Russ moved closer to her and lowered his voice. "They're ready to kill on sight, Jo. Would you rather I find him or someone else?"

Jo stared at him a moment and realized he was serious. "I'm telling you, I don't know where he is. This must have something to do with the case we have been working on."

"What case is that?"

"You have a few minutes before you go chasing an innocent man?"

"Hey, I want to get at the truth."

"Stay right here."

Jo went to the lab to get the file on the case and brought it back into the conference room to share her information with Russ. "Someone has been trying to kill Mac," Jo said. "All we know is that they hired this woman, Maria Fortner, to kill him. We don't have any definite proof as to who did it."

Russ stared at the information. "She's a big one, alright," he said. "Must be wanted in eight states."

"Well, this should be enough to say that someone is after Mac and trying to get rid of him in some way."

"Who do you think is doing it?" Russ asked. Jo folded her arms. "I know you have some idea now come on and tell me."

"I can't tell you that without permission from the commissioner."

"Then let's go see him."

Jo supposed they were going to find out sooner or later but she was not going to be the one that let something leak out. She remembered how adamant Mac was about that not getting out yet.

John and Mac arrived at their destination. Mac was blindfolded now and John had been playing music so he could not concentrate and count turns or anything. He took Mac inside and then took the blindfold off.

"Mac!" Christine exclaimed and ran to him.

Mac grabbed her in his arms and held her. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." She looked at Mac. "I'm just tired of being here."

"They haven't been cruel to you, have they?"

"No, they've been very kind, but I don't like being locked away like this."

Mac stroked her hair. "I hope it won't be for much longer. We're in a bad situation now…maybe worse than before."

Christine frowned. "What could be worse than someone trying to kill you?" she asked.

"They killed two people on a military base using my military ID and my dress uniform," Mac said.

Christine's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"Somebody is out to get me and they are stopping at nothing."

Mac sat down on the bed and then lay over. "I am so tired," he said.

Christine sat down beside him. "So you're in hiding now too?" she asked.

Mac sighed. "I don't know what I am anymore. I'm tired of this."

Christine lay down beside him. "Mac, are we going away together?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "Yes, we are. As soon as this is over, we're going as far as we can…or want to go."

"Antarctica?"

Mac smiled. "I guess no one would bother us there."

"The penguins might."

"Now, you're just being cute."

Christine leaned over and kissed him. "I just want to be somewhere with you that the phone won't ring," she said.

"Don't worry," Mac said. "When we go, the phone is staying here…or I am going to instruct everyone not to call me."

Christine snuggled closer to Mac and lay her head on his shoulder and sighed. "At least it is quiet here," she said.

"Yes, it is," Mac replied with his eyes closed.


	16. Chapter 16

**I hope you will all send me reviews. :)**

Jo and Russ were on their way to the Commissioner's office. "You just let me do the talking," Jo said.

"You always do," Russ replied.

Jo looked at him. "I resent that."

"Face it, you like to be in control."

"Well, I certainly don't like for things to be 'out' of control."

"But if you do too much talking, you're going to let everyone know that Mac left this building and is now out of reach and that is going to make him look very suspicious if he is running."

Jo sighed. "He's not running," she said. "He must know something is going on and he's trying to figure it out."

Russ shook his head. "It still doesn't look good," he said.

The elevator doors opened at the commissioner's office and they walked out. Jo was nervous as they neared the Commissioner's office. She had not been to this office but one time and there was no trouble at that time.

Russ and Jo sat in the waiting room. "I hope he's not already meeting with someone about this," Jo said.

"No one in my department," Russ replied.

Soon, they were called into the office. Commissioner Reagan was sitting at his desk. "Detective Danville," he said. "We've had quite a night, haven't we?"

"Yes, sir," Jo said as the Commissioner shook her hand.

Commissioner Reagan looked at Russ. "Agent Josephson," he said. "I assume you two are here about Detective Taylor's situation."

"Yes," Jo replied. "Russ wants to know who we suspect as the one who hired the hit woman."

"You have any rock hard evidence yet?"

Jo folded her arms. "No," she said. "But this is serious. Maybe Russ can find something about this person that we don't know yet."

Reagan leaned back in his chair and considered that. "I don't want his name dragged through the mud until we have some proof," he said.

"Sir, with all due respect, Mac got his information from a very reliable source," Jo said.

"Who?"

Russ looked at Jo which annoyed her because it was his look that said "I told you so". "I don't know who," Jo said.

"There are too many 'I don't knows' going around this place," Reagan said just a little agitated. He looked at Russ. "I know if you get that information, it's going to wind up on the national news and I don't want it there until we find some proof."

"I assure you that we will not let any information out before it's reliable," Russ said. "I can't really help you when I'm in the dark."

"He's right," Jo agreed. "He needs to know what he's looking for."

Reagan considered that a moment. "Alright," he said. "But if anything gets out, I'm holding you responsible, Detective Danville." He leaned on the desk. "And I want to know where Detective Taylor is. I've heard that he's disappeared."

"I don't know where he is at the moment."

"That doesn't look too good for him, and I'm sure you know that."

"I do know it but right now I don't know how to find him. I'm sure he is going to show up and he's going to shed some light on this situation."

"So you think he's out trying to find out who is doing all this?"

"I'm sure he is."

"Well, that's not what General Carter said."

Jo stared at the Commissioner. She knew what he meant. "I understand."

"Mac better understand it too. He's in danger out there running from this."

"I'm sure he knows the circumstances."

Reagan blew out a frustrated breath. "He's going to face some consequences for this, you know."

Jo felt like she was being grilled. She had no idea where Mac was but she figured he was with that guy, John. However, she did not want to disclose that information because Mac had not said anything about it. She opened the file on the case and looked at Russ. "The suspect is John Pressman," she said.

Russ looked at the report. "He works here," he said with surprised. He looked at Jo. "He was up for Mac's job?"

"Yes. At first, it looked like he wanted Mac's job, but there is no reason for all these actions. He must know that we suspect him for this. There must be something else behind all this."

"Does he know Mac's girlfriend?"

"I don't know. Christine didn't seem to know anything about the situation. She didn't remember anyone who had been lurking around her or anything except some guy who asked her out and came to the restaurant every day to eat."

Russ did not look convinced. "This is kinda extreme for rejection," he said.

"I agree. There must be something else. Something that Mac has not figured out yet."

"Or, they just took the opportunity when they got his uniform. They knew Mac had the access and they wanted to do that so they just used the opportunity."

"That must be it."

"So this could have nothing to do with the circumstances involved in the other part of the case."

"But how did they get the uniform?" Jo asked. "Whoever broke into the apartment stole it."

"Maybe they sold it."

Jo frowned. "But they had his military ID too. They must have been made up to look like Mac."

Commissioner Reagan cleared his throat. "Just figure it out," he said.

"Yes, sir," Jo replied.

Jo and Russ left the office and went back to the elevator. They looked at the file as they were going back down. "So this is all just coincidence?" Jo asked.

"Could be," Russ replied. "I've seen a lot of crazy stuff happen."

"So have I." Jo looked at him. "You think that this has nothing to do with the hit woman trying to kill Mac?"

Russ considered that. "It doesn't seem to fit," he said. "I mean, why would he go to these lengths? No, I think the uniform wound up with someone else who wanted to commit a different crime and now they're just framing Mac for it because somehow they wound up with the military ID too."

"The ID could have been fake."

"That's true too."

"Whatever the answer is, Mac is in trouble until we find what is really going on."

Mac was sleeping soundly when someone said, "Detective Taylor," in an almost whisper.

Christine sat up as she saw John standing beside the bed. She looked at Mac who was sleeping. "He was exhausted," she said.

"I realize that," John replied. "That's why we let him sleep this four hours. I got a little rest myself, but now it's time to work." He touched Mac's shoulder. "Detective Taylor, things are getting out of control. We have to move."

Christine smiled and shook Mac's shoulder which caused him to sit up suddenly. He realized they were trying to wake him up and he felt a little embarrassed. "I guess I was tired," he said.

"It happens to the best of us," John replied. "Come on, we have work to do."

Mac sat up on the side of the bed and looked at Christine. He touched her face and kissed her. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too," Christine replied.

Mac got up and went with John. They went into a room with what looked like a super computer with blinking lights and several components. The man with the stiff neck, Finch was there at a computer. "Good day, Detective Taylor," he said.

"Hi," Mac replied as he was looking around the place. "What is all this?" he asked.

Finch looked at John. "I told you that you shouldn't bring him in here," he said. "People are always in awe at everything and they're curious."

"He won't know where it is," John said.

Mac shook his head. "So, what is going on?" he asked.

Finch looked at him. "I'm afraid there is a manhunt out for you," he said. "They're going to show no mercy if they see you or if you resist." He looked at John. "However, my associate here is a genius at not being seen."

John smiled slightly. "Why, thank you, Finch."

Mac was in no mood for joking. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked. "Now they think I am on the run. That makes me look guilty."

"Oh, we know you're not guilty, Detective Taylor," Finch said. "The problem is that they don't know it."

Mac frowned. "You can't trust anyone these days."

"Yes, you can, it's just hard to pick out the ones you can trust."

"So, what are we going to do about this?"

"I've been tracking the guilty person since they left the base. They dumped your dress uniform and then fled on foot until they got here." Finch pointed to the screen. "They then, got into a vehicle with a woman and they went here to a hotel." He looked at Mac. "I assume they are staying there to watch things unfold so they can gloat and then get away with their crime."

"Only they don't know there are no secrets in this city when Finch is around," John said.

Mac did not know whether to be glad or feel eerie. "Just who all are you watching?" he asked.

"Only the people whom I need to watch," Finch replied.

Just then, Christine walked slowly into the room. Mac looked at her. "This is unbelievable," she said.

"She's seen everything," John said to Finch.

"Well, so has he, but I think we're safe," Finch replied.

"Good, then I won't have to kill them."

Mac stared at him a moment. "That's not even funny," he said.

"I know, but it kinda breaks up the monotony."

Mac looked at the screen again. "So, if we know where they are, why don't we go and pick them up?" he asked.

"We could," John said. "Unfortunately, your face is quite recognizable, so we're going to have to get you something else to wear and get you looking different."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Oh, trust me," Finch said. "He has quite a wardrobe of deceiving clothing."

"I don't think any of them are going to fit him," John pointed out.

"No, you're right, but I don't have anything that looks remotely different than what I'm wearing now."

"Well, I suppose we could dress him up like an eccentric, billionaire computer nerd."

"That's very funny, Mr. Reese. You've been working on your humor."

"Somebody needs to have a little humor in this place." John looked at Bear. "He's even solemn."

Mac paid attention to the fact that he used John's last name. He would have to remember that. Finch gave John a credit card. "Get him something," he said.

John looked at Mac. "I need all your sizes," he said.

Mac could not believe this, but he wrote down all his sizes so that John could go and get him some clothes. "I do have other clothes at my apartment," he said.

"But we want you to look different than you usually look so that no one would suspect that it was you," John replied.

Mac was not sure he was ready for this. "Nothing too crazy," he said.

"Don't worry."

John left. Mac and Christine looked at what Finch was doing. He looked at them. "Would you mind going back into the room in there?" he asked. "If there's anything you need, just ask."

Mac hesitated at moment but then he nodded. After all, they were helping him and had saved his life. "Alright," he said.

Mac and Christine went into the room where they had been. "I guess we can spend some time together," Mac said.

"It sure was cozy lying there on the bed," Christine replied.

"So let's go back to it while we wait."

They got onto the bed and lay down again. Christine snuggled close to Mac. "I can't wait till we're doing this all the time," she said.

"Me neither," Mac replied. "It won't be long, hopefully."

"Oh, Mac, this is a bad situation."

"I know but it has to turn out right because I'm innocent."

"This situation just seems so strange."

Mac had to agree with that. He did not like lying here doing nothing when people out there thought he had murdered someone but he was not sure what to do. He hoped John did not bring back something too crazy for him to wear.

Jo and Russ were searching all the databanks that they could find. "I don't see anything about John Pressman," Jo said.

"Maybe he had another name before," Russ said.

"But he's been working here almost as long as Mac."

"But where was he before that?"

"It says he was chief of police in a small town in Virginia and then he moved to New York to pursue greater things, I guess."

"Like Mac's job."

Jo scowled at that. "That just doesn't even seem reasonable," she said.

"It has to be something else. Maybe Mac has come across something before that this guy was involved in…or maybe, that hit woman was lying."

"Well, John Pressman was in the Marines before."

"Maybe he served with Mac long ago and has some sort of grudge."

"But wouldn't Mac remember him?"

"It looks like he would, but we haven't had much time to talk about that. He has not said anything about it. I don't think he's had much time to think about it." Jo thought to try and remember if Mac had ever said anything about John Pressman, but she could not remember anything. The only time she had really met Pressman was when he was trying to get Mac's job. "I just don't know." She looked at Russ. "You know it's sad how little we know about the people we work with."

"I guess, but when you're in this line of work, you don't have much time to get to know anyone." He looked at Jo. "I think maybe that was our problem. We didn't have time to really know each other."

"Maybe, but I don't think we would have ever agreed on everything."

"Who says you have to agree on everything?"

"I don't want to have this conversation right now. We're in the middle of a bad situation and we have to figure out what is going on."

"Okay." Russ stood up. "I will get to work on this and start digging to see what I can come up with."

"We'll do the same." Jo looked at him. "Don't let this out."

"I will do my very best."

Jo supposed she could not ask for more than that. She went into the computer lab where Adam was still working. "Have you found anything at all?" she asked.

"I'm running a background check on John Pressman," Adam said. "Nothing yet."

"Is there any way to find out if he served with Mac in the Marines?"

"I suppose I could cross reference their assignments and see if they were in any places at the same time."

"Good, do that."

"It might take some time. These things are hard to reference sometimes."

"Just do your best."

When John came back to the place where Mac and Christine were staying, he had several shopping bags. "I hate shopping," he said. He set the bags on the bed so Mac could see what he had bought for him. "I have to go and change too. They're always looking for 'a guy in a suit', so I won't be wearing one this time."

Mac looked into one of the bags a moment and pulled out a leather jacket. "You didn't go cheap, did you?" he asked.

"I guess when you have an unlimited budget, you don't have to worry about the cost," John replied and left the room.

Mac looked at Christine who was about to look into one of the bags. "Rich people are strange," she said.

Christine almost laughed when she saw what was in the bag. She pulled the pair of leather pants from the bag. Mac stared at them a moment. "Surely, he does not expect me to wear that," he said.

"Oh, I would love to see you in these," Christine replied. "Please put them on."

Mac stared at her with a surprised look. "I thought I was supposed to be inconspicuous. If I wear that, I'm not going to be inconspicuous."

"Maybe he intends to take you to the lowest part of New York."

"If I'm going to be wearing that, it better be."

Mac pulled out some black jeans and some other clothes. "I think I will wear these," he said.

Christine smiled. "If they let you keep these clothes, you're going to have to wear those leather pants just for me," she said.

Mac smiled at her. "I promise I will."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

Mac got dressed in the black jeans and a white long sleeved t-shirt under a gray cashmere sweater that buttoned up the front and had designs on it. He looked at Christine as he came out of the bathroom. "This is definitely not me," he said.

"I can't believe the price on that," Christine said.

Mac looked at his trench coat. "I suppose I can't wear that." He put on the leather jacket that looked all together like he was about to jump on a motorcycle. He looked at Christine. "I hope we're not about to jump on a Harley in this weather."

Christine could not help but giggle at Mac's antics. "I think you look hot," she said. "You probably wouldn't even know it was cold."

Mac stared at her a moment with an amused look. "Maybe I should take you with me."

"OH no, I am staying right here."

Soon, John came back and he was dressed in different clothes too. "Well, if they're looking for a man in a suit now, they won't be looking for me," he said in his quiet way. He was wearing jeans and a leather jacket with a sweater too.

"I'm not sure I like this sweater," Mac replied. "Not my style at all."

"Well, that's the point, isn't it?"

"So, where are we going?"

"We're going to find that killer."


	17. Chapter 17

Mac followed John out to the black Cadillac and got in. He hoped no one recognized him anywhere. "So, what are we going to do?" he asked, feeling totally lost. It had been a long time since he had to follow and not lead.

"We're going to that hotel," John replied. "We're going to find out how they wound up with that uniform after we pick it up."

"How do you know they're still there?"

"Finch is keeping an eye on them."

Mac thought he should have known the answer to that. "How far is it?" he asked.

"A few miles," John replied. "At least while we're in the car, we won't have to worry about anyone seeing you, but when we get out, we have to worry because there's a price on your head."

Mac frowned. "Where…never mind. I know where you heard it. When did this happen?"

"A few minutes ago, but at least by the time we get there, it will be getting dark."

Mac was glad of that. He wished he could contact Jo and let her know what was going on but he could not use his phone or it could be traced. He knew they must be trying to figure things out but he knew they did not know as much as he knew about the situation.

Mac was surprised when they stopped in a dark alley with some dumpsters in it. "Why are we stopping here?" he asked.

"Because this is where your uniform is," John replied. He got out of the car and walked over to one of the dumpsters. Mac walked up beside him and they both peered inside. Mac reached in and grabbed the garbage bag and tore it open to find his dress uniform in it.

Mac stared at it a moment. He felt angry now. He had worked hard to earn the right to wear that uniform. John did not look happy about it either because the uniform was now covered with gunk and stuff from the other garbage. Mac looked at him. "Let's go find them," he said.

They got back into the Cadillac after they put the uniform in the trunk and headed for the hotel again. Mac was surprised at the hotel when they got there. It looked like it would collapse any moment and the sign was swinging in the breeze: The Seaside Inn. "They're staying here?" he asked.

"Yes," John replied. "Hard to believe there is surveillance out here."

The hotel looked like it had not been painted in years and the roof looked like it probably had some leaks. They got out and walked over to the hotel which was one of those with the doors on the outside. It looked like it had not been renovated since the 1800's. Mac wondered how old this hotel was. "Which room are they in?" he asked.

"One twenty," John answered.

They went down the line of door until they came to room 120. "So, what are we going to do? Just walk in?" Mac asked.

"If they don't let us in," John said and knocked on the door.

They waited a moment and finally heard someone unlocking the door. "Who's there?" a man asked.

John shoved the door open easily breaking the chain that was still in the channel. Mac looked around them outside to make sure no one was seeing them barging into someone's hotel room. He did not see anyone so he went on in. The guy who was in the room tried to pull a weapon, but John grabbed his arm and Mac was sure he heard a crunch as he twisted the man's wrist and then elbowed him in the nose.

The man landed on the bed without his gun and with a bloody nose and holding his right wrist. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The woman in the room was staring in horror. "I have some things to discuss with you," John said in his almost whisper.

Mac walked over to the man and jerked him up by the collars. "You went into that base and used my ID and my uniform, didn't you?" he asked. "Don't even bother lying!"

The man stared at Mac. "You can't prove I did anything!" he declared.

John walked over to them and took hold of the man. "He's bound by the law but I'm not, and if you don't tell me willingly, I'll make you wish you had," he said.

The man swallowed hard and stared at John not doubting one bit that he would do just what he said. "Yeah, I did it," he said.

"Why!" Mac demanded.

"I had a score to settle and when I got that uniform, I knew it was my time."

"Where did you get it? Who sold it to you?"

"I don't know his name."

"Then where did you meet him?"

"There's a guy who sells stuff over at the Restitution Bar," the man said. "He always has a trunk full of stuff that he picks up while he's scavenging around the city. He had that uniform, so I bought it."

"Where did he get it?" Mac asked.

"I don't know."

"You know his name?"

"His first name is Henry. I don't know anything else."

"Well, I'll tell you what I do know," John said as he tightened his grip on the man's collars. "You're going to the twelfth precinct and you're going to turn yourself in and tell them what you did."

"Why would I do that?" the man asked.

John held his weapon to the man's chin. "Because if you don't, I'm going to come after you, and you can't hide from me…and I hate chasing people down and dragging them in to the police."

"But I'll have to go to prison!"

"Yeah, but you're going either way, so you can take the hard way or the easy way. Going yourself is the easy way…I'm the hard way."

The man swallowed feeling angry that he was letting this guy intimidate him. John shoved him back and he sat down on the bed. "Now, I expect to hear that you turned yourself in very soon," John said. He looked toward the woman in the room. "And you should keep better company." John looked at the man again. "The clock is ticking…and take back whatever you stole, or I'll let them know about some of the other crimes you've committed. I suppose that would add to your sentence."

Mac could not believe that John walked over to the door. He followed him out. "Do you really think he's going to turn himself in?" he asked.

"Sure he will," John replied. "And if he doesn't, I'll drag him in myself."

Mac shook his head. "You're awfully confident," he said.

"Well, we'll know if he doesn't go in. Right now, we have to get over to the Restitution Bar."

Just as they were about to pull out, Mac saw the woman coming from the hotel room and getting into a car. Then the man came out and got in and he was carrying a briefcase of some sort. He wondered if the guy was going to turn himself in but he could not worry about that right now. They were off to that bar to find out who sold that uniform and where he got it.

"What would you have done if he had not admitted it?" Mac asked.

"I would have made him talk," John replied.

"So you commit crimes to prove that other people commit crimes?"

"I just do what you wish you could do."

Mac frowned. He had to admit he had seen times when he would have liked to beat up a suspect and he had fought that Clay Dobson that time because he wanted to. He knew he had wanted to get there by himself so he could take that guy down alone. It had not been the right thing to do and could have cost him his career and his dignity as well.

"I take down criminals that you can't touch or that you don't even know about."

"We can't take them down if we don't know about them," Mac said. "And we have to have proof."

"We always have proof. These people do things and we see them."

"And you know that they are going to kill someone…how?"

"You know all you're going to know, Detective Taylor."

Mac supposed he would just have to take it at that…

Don was sitting at his desk when a man came walking in with a briefcase. "Can I help you?" Don asked.

The man looked nervous. "I'm here to turn myself in," he said.

"For what?"

"My name is Arnold Soapen. I was the one who went into that base and killed those two people."

Don frowned. "And just what is in this briefcase?" he asked.

"The papers I stole."

Don did not know what to say for a moment. "And you're confessing?"

Soapen frowned. "Yeah, I'm confessing," he said. "I did it. I bought Detective Taylor's uniform from some guy and I used it. I got a fake ID and everything. I had a score to settle with one of those guys and so I took my opportunity and I also wanted to get those papers."

Don could not believe what he was hearing but he took the guy into custody and called Jo. She was soon down there. "He confessed?" she asked.

"Yeah," Don replied. "He's writing it down now."

They looked into the interrogation room where Arnold Soapen was writing his confession. "And his reason for this?" Jo asked.

"He had a score to settle and he wanted those papers," Don said. "That's all I know so far. I'm sure maybe we will get some more details with this."

"So that gets Mac off the hook for this then."

"It should, but where is he?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that."

Don folded his arms and looked into the interrogation room at the suspect. "I still can't figure out why this guy suddenly comes in and confesses," he said. He looked at Jo. "You think this has anything to do with Mac and that guy who was hanging around?"

"It could," Jo said. "I wish I knew that guy's name."

"Now, we're back to figuring out who hired that hit woman to kill Mac."

"I think we may know the answer to that soon."

"I hope so because frankly, I'm tired of this case and maybe Mac will show up and stay around for a while."

"I doubt it. He wants a vacation after this, I am sure."

"I think we could all use one."

Mac and John arrived at the bar. "Have you been in this bar before?" John asked.

"Not that I recall. I don't usually show up at bars unless I am called to a murder," Mac said.

"Then maybe no one in there will recognize you."

"Maybe not."

They got out and went into the bar which was much neater than Mac would have thought it would be. However, it looked cluttered too. Although it was clean, it was cluttered with several tables and chairs as well as a bar that ran the length of the room and had stools. "I assume he doesn't hang around up here in the front," John said in his quiet way which caused Mac to barely hear him. "Let's spread out."

Mac headed toward the back room that had a sign over it that said "Recreation". He supposed that meant it was the game room. He tried not to look at anyone as he passed by because he was afraid they would recognize him. He had been in the paper plenty of times after all. He walked into the room where there were plenty of guys hanging around and women too. He strolled over to the mini bar that was there in the room to keep them from having to go back to the other bar.

"What'll you have?" the bar tender asked.

Mac considered that a moment. He was not sure he wanted to drink anything but he ordered something anyway so he would not look suspicious. He did not have to drink it anyway. He moved over to a pool table where there was already a game going on and stood against the wall. He did not see anyone in there selling anything.

A woman walked over to him. "You need some company?" she asked.

"I could use some information," Mac replied.

"About what?"

"You know a guy named Henry who peddles around here?"

The woman looked at him. "Are you a cop?" she asked.

"Do I look like one?"

"Sorta."

"Look, I just want to talk to the guy and I didn't say I was a cop either."

"Sure, he stops in here sometimes."

"How often?"

The woman stared at Mac a moment. "He should be in here tonight," she said. "Why are you looking for him?"

"I just want to ask him something about an item he sold a few nights ago," Mac replied.

"You're talking about that Marine uniform, aren't you?"

Mac tried not to let his surprise show. "Why would you think that?" he asked.

"I think I've seen you before."

Mac thought it did not matter what he was wearing, people would still recognize him. "Don't worry," the woman said. "We don't rat people out. Besides, I don't think you did it."

"How do you know?"

"Because, we've been standing here about five minutes and you haven't even made a pass at me yet and you don't seem like the type."

Mac was glad she felt that way. "Well, I'm not the type," he said.

"Just wait around a while. Henry will be in."

Mac walked over to a sofa there in the lounge and sat down. He watched that woman for a moment hoping that she had not been trying to deceive him. However, she was just going around the room talking and laughing with everyone.

John was going down a hallway in the back of the bar. "Do you see him anywhere here, Finch?" he asked in his almost whisper.

"No, Mr. Reese," Finch answered over the earpiece. "But I do see a fellow outside getting out of a car and he seems to be filling up an old suitcase with stuff. This could be our guy. I can't see his face very good because of the bad lighting. He's closing the suitcase and walking toward the bar now." Finch was silent a moment. "I would assume he is the guy you're looking for."

By this time, John was back in the front of the bar and went to the door of the other room to signal Mac that he had found their guy. Mac came back out into the front of the bar where he saw a man coming in with an old suitcase. Everyone greeted the guy and he sat down at a table and opened the suitcase.

"That's our guy," John said.

"Well, let's see what he has to say," Mac replied.

They walked over to the guy. "Henry?" John said.

The man looked up at them. He looked to be in his sixties and had graying hair. "Yes?"

"We need to talk to you," Mac said.

"About what?"

"About a uniform that you sold in here a few nights ago. A Marine uniform?"

"Yeah, that was one of the best things I had ever had and I got a good price for it."

Mac leaned on the table and did not hide his contempt for that statement. "That was my uniform," he said. "That uniform was used in a robbery and murder. I want to know who sold it to you and where they sold it to you."

The old man's face turned a shade whiter as he stared into Mac's eyes. "I…I got it from a man who said he wanted to get rid of it. Said he was tired of it hanging around in his closet," he said.

"What did he look like?" Mac asked.

"He was probably taller than you and had brown hair, he wore glasses and I noticed that he had a scar on his face right under his left eye."

Mac scowled. "Anything else?" he asked.

The man considered that. "He was wearing a suit," he said.

"That it?"

"No. I couldn't really tell what color his eyes were because it was dark and he was wearing the glasses."

Mac stared at the man a moment. "Didn't you think it was strange that he would be selling you something like that?" he asked. "That uniform doesn't come easy."

"I guess I should have been suspicious but I just thought, well, I needed the money."

Mac frowned. "That uniform was mine," he said. "You should think before you sell something like that."

"I'm sorry."

Mac stood up straight and looked at John. "Now what?" he asked.

"Where were you when he sold you the uniform?" John asked.

"I was over there in the alley where I usually look for stuff," Henry answered. "It's an upscale neighborhood and I usually find a lot of stuff over there because they throw things away that are not really worn out yet."

"Write down the street name and which alley," Mac said and gave him a notepad.

Just then, two guys walked over to the table. "Are you guys harassing Henry?" one of them asked.

Mac looked at the guy who looked like he had seen plenty of time in the weight room, and he was bald. "No," Mac said. "We're just asking him some questions."

The man looked at Henry. "Everything alright?" he asked.

"Yes," Henry replied. "Everything is fine."

The man looked at Mac. "We don't like anyone harassing Henry," he said. "He's just an old man trying to make a dollar."

"Well, he better watch what he sells," Mac replied. "He sold something very important to me."

"Let's go," John said in his whispery voice. "We're about to have company."

Mac followed John from the bar. "What do you mean, company?" he asked.

"I think your friends are getting wise."

As they were leaving, they saw the Avalanche pulling into the parking lot. Mac frowned. He did not like the idea of running and hiding from his friends. "How did they figure it out?" he asked.

"They must have found the same sources we did," John said. "They found out how the guy got the uniform."

"That means they are probably going to show up where we are going soon. How do you think we can keep hiding from them?"

"We'll just be one step ahead of them."


	18. Chapter 18

Mac and John arrived at the alley where Henry said he bought the uniform. "So, what are we going to do?" Mac asked. "Ask the neighbors if they saw anyone in this alley?"

"Something like that," John replied. "You never know who is watching out the window or who is in these alleys."

They walked into the alley and looked behind the dumpsters and everything to see if there was anything else they could find. "Was there anything else missing from your apartment?" John asked.

"Not that I know of," Mac replied. He saw something shining on the ground beside one of the dumpsters. He bent and picked it up.

John walked up beside him and looked at the ribbon bar that Mac was holding. "He must have dropped this somehow," Mac said.

John stared at the ribbon. He knew how hard it was to earn those ribbons, but Mac did not know that he knew. "Some people have not respect for anything," he said.

"You can say that again."

"Navy and Marine Corp Achievement Medal."

Mac looked at him. "You know the medals?"

"I know some."

John looked around the alley and up. He saw a light on in one of the windows and thought he could see someone looking out that window. "Maybe someone saw what happened down here," he said.

Mac looked up at the window. "But they don't have to tell us," he replied. He looked around them. "What we need is to know John Pressman's address."

John touched his ear. "Finch, get us the address of John Pressman," he said.

Mac hated it when someone was talking to some unseen and unheard person right in front of him. He waited and finally John looked at him. "It seems that Mr. Pressman's address would be this building right here," he said.

Mac frowned. "Which apartment?"

"Four D. Why don't we go and pay him a visit?"

Mac considered that. "The Commissioner told me not to confront him," he said. "If I go against that order, I could jeopardize my career."

"But if you don't, you could jeopardize your life and Christine's life."

Mac frowned. He did not know what to do now. He knew John was right but he did not want to lose his job over something like this. He thought this was pretty hard proof that Pressman must be involved in this. "We can't wait all night," John said.

Mac looked at him and John could see the struggle on his face. "Why don't you wait and I'll go myself?" he asked.

"No," Mac replied. "I'll go with you."

Mac felt guilty about going but he would go anyway. They went into the apartment building and went up to the fourth floor. They arrived at the right apartment and John knocked on the door. Mac hated this, but he did not see any other way. He heard the slide on the peephole and then the door opened. John Pressman was there. He looked at Mac with contempt. "What are you doing here, Detective Taylor?" he asked.

Mac swallowed hard. "We need to ask you some questions," he said.

"We?"

Mac looked around and realized John had disappeared. He looked at Pressman. "Well, I'm used to saying 'we'," he said quickly. "I need to talk to you."

Pressman stared at Mac. "Come on in."

Mac reluctantly went into the apartment. He knew this was the man who hired that hit woman to kill him. "Well, to what do I owe this intrusion?" Pressman asked.

Mac looked at him, noticing very easily the scar under his right eye. "I might as well just get right to business with this," he said. "Did you hire Maria Fortner to kill me?"

Pressman frowned and glared at Mac. "Are you accusing me of that?"

"Yes. You've been identified as the one who hired her. You also sold my uniform which was stolen from my apartment to a guy in this alley out here. He sold it over yonder in a bar and then it was used in a murder and robbery."

"Boy, you get right to the point, don't you, Taylor?"

"Might as well. I've been holding this in for too long to beat around the bush now!"

"How dare you come here accusing me of hiring a hit woman! If I wanted to kill you, I would do it myself!"

Mac glared at him. "You hired her and you know it! You hired her because you knew no one would suspect you!"

"You think I wanted to kill you for that lousy job? You're kidding, right?"

"No, I think it was more than that. You were in the Marines. What happened? Did I get some promotion or something you wanted?"

Pressman was steaming mad now. "Everywhere I went, there you were," he said almost gritting his teeth. "I was in love with Claire, and I was talking to General Conrad about her and finding out what she liked, and then, there you were! She was head over heels for you! Then, I come here, and here you are! You take the job that I wanted too! Then I see Christine, and I want to ask her out. I go into the restaurant to talk to her a few times, and then lo, and behold, there you are!"

Mac was shocked. He did not remember Pressman in all those situations. "You're doing all this out of jealousy?" he asked. "Why didn't you try to build your own life!"

"How could I when you were always there to get in the way! And then when I had the opportunity, here you came back!"

Suddenly, Mac saw a flash of movement as Pressman jerked a combat knife from his side and came at him. Mac grabbed his hand with the knife in it and the fight was on. Pressman was stronger than Mac would have thought he was. He elbowed Mac in the face and tried to ram the knife into his side but Mac got his footing back and twisted his arm. Pressman rammed the heel of his other hand into Mac's nose. Mac shook his head as that blurred his vision just a little especially after that other blow to the face. He was keeping his hand on that knife hand though because Pressman was using all his weight to try and get the knife into Mac's side. Mac could not fight much because he was trying to avoid being stabbed.

Mac finally shoved Pressman backward to get to regain his stamina. His nose was bleeding and he felt like his whole face was hurting. He stood and stared at Pressman who was glaring at him. "You getting tired already?" Pressman asked.

Mac waited to see what Pressman would do. He suddenly lunged at him but this time. Mac grabbed that arm with the knife and twisted the arm around and then rammed his other elbow into Pressman's nose. While he was staggering from that, Mac disarmed him and kicked the knife away. He kicked Pressman's legs from under him and got him down on the floor and attempted to pull his arms around behind him, but Pressman was not finished. He punched Mac right in his sore nose and busted his lips as well. As Pressman was coming up off the floor, Mac rammed his fist into his face. Pressman kicked Mac in the chest knocking him backward.

Mac realized that Pressman was going after the knife. Mac got up as quickly as he could and jumped on Pressman to keep him from getting the knife again. He wrapped his arms around Pressman's neck and jerked him around away from the knife, but Pressman elbowed him in the ribs. Mac tried to keep his hold on Pressman's neck but he elbowed him again. Mac thought he would lose his breath and he could not keep holding on.

Pressman tried to crawl for the knife again and Mac grabbed his ankle and jerked him back but that was a mistake because Pressman kicked him in the face. Mac fell backward. He was almost addled but he was trying to get his vision to clear. He thought Pressman was going for the knife, but instead he opened a drawer on the table at the end of the sofa. Mac almost gasped and moved to the other side of the living room as Pressman fired a shot at him. Mac got behind the sofa.

"Stop this now!" Mac said.

"Why should I stop?" Pressman asked. "My life is over anyway! You already know I hired that hit woman and I'm sure everyone else knows!"

"You didn't have to let it get to this!"

"What was I supposed to do? Just let you go on with your happy life and I get nothing!?"

"That is ridiculous! What do you think has been so happy about my life since Claire died!?"

"Your fault! You should have stayed in Chicago!"

Mac did not know how to get out of there. The guy was down there with a weapon and he had no weapon. He was not on police business. "You might as well come out, Taylor," Pressman said. "You can't get away now."

"You're crazy!" Mac declared. "You think I would come here alone?"

"Don't try that on me. You had no one with you."

"You remember that I said 'we'."

"You really expect me to fall for that?"

Mac could see that John had gotten into the apartment on the fire escape and was coming through the dark kitchen. John did not see him coming that way but Mac had a clear view so he was trying to keep him distracted.

"You must have a weapon over there, Taylor," Pressman said.

"You think I would come without one?" Mac asked. He slid his pants leg up and pulled out the small ankle gun he was carrying. If that guy came down there, he would shoot him. "I wouldn't risk it, if I were you."

"I don't think you have one," Pressman said. "You weren't on police business. You were on personal business."

"So am I…"

Pressman gasped as he looked up to see John standing over him. Before he could move, John grabbed his gun hand and twisted it so fast and hard, he heard something crack. He punched him as he took the weapon away. He looked toward Mac who was coming from behind the other end of the sofa. "You alright?" John asked.

"Yes," Mac said as he wiped blood from his lips. He took a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and they cuffed John Pressman.

"I think you can handle it from here," John said in his quiet voice. He looked at Mac. "Take care."

Mac looked at John as he turned to leave the way he had come in. "Wait," Mac said.

John did not look around, he kept walking. Mac saw him disappear into the dark, and then he heard someone knock on the front door of the apartment. "N.Y.P.D.! Open up!" Don Flack said.

Mac jerked Pressman over to the door and opened it. Don was standing there, along with Jo. They were surprised to see Mac. Mac shoved Pressman toward Don. "There's your criminal!" Mac said. "He's the one who hired that hit woman to kill me!"

Don and Jo were still shocked but Don got the guy and placed him under arrest. "Are you alright?" Jo asked as she saw all the blood on Mac's face and on the front of his shirt.

"I'm fine," Mac said and rubbed his side where Pressman had hit him in the ribs. "Or at least I will be now. I'm just glad this is over."

Jo sighed. "Oh, Mac, it is far from over."

Mac frowned. "I don't care what they do to me. I have all the evidence I need to prove that he did all this."

"We still have to take you in."

Mac knew he could not argue. He had disappeared and no one knew where he was. He had turned off his cell phone and took the battery out. He had gone against what the commissioner told him, but that worked out. However, he had that ribbon and they would see if there were any fingerprints on it. He knew Pressman had sold that uniform in that alley and then Henry had sold it at the bar and then the guy who bought it had committed that crime.

They went back to the precinct. The commissioner and the chief were waiting for Mac when he came in. "Come with us," Commissioner Reagan said.

Mac swallowed hard but he went with them. He knew he was in for a chewing out. He supposed he deserved it. He had disappeared during a critical case and he had avoided the authorities when they were coming after him. He had gone around with some guy who knew exactly what was going on.

Jo and Don looked at each other. "I wouldn't want to be in there," Don said.

"Neither would I," Jo replied. "At least this is over in time for Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I just hope we can get through it without another murder."

"You're not the only one."

They got Pressman booked and got him into the interrogation room. "So why did you do it?" Don asked as he and Jo sat down at the table.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Pressman sneered.

Don leaned on the table. "You do know that your job is over, right? Once you commit a crime, you can't keep being an officer."

Pressman glared at Don. "I always hated you and your sarcasm."

Jo stared at him a moment. "That is just cruel," she said. "We know what you did so why don't you just tell us why?"

"I don't think he's going to tell us," Don said.

"That's fine. I'll just explain it to him."

By the time Mac got out of the Commissioner's office, he was not only humiliated but he was angry too. It was not his fault that the guy had hired that hit woman to kill him. He had not broken any laws. Besides that, that guy, John had taken him on all those chases and he did not have much choice in the matter. The man had saved his life more than once. He could not really hold anything against him. He went up to the lab to his office.

Jo walked back into the lab later and saw Mac sitting at his desk propping on his hand as he was writing. She went into the office. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Don't ask," Mac replied. "Did he confess?"

"Finally. We had plenty of evidence on him especially since that ribbon you found had his fingerprint on it."

Jo looked at Mac a moment as he was silent. "What happened?" she asked.

Mac looked at her and then back down at the report he was writing. "Never mind," he said.

"I'm sorry about all this, Mac. I didn't know how to help you. You disappeared and we didn't know what was going on and…"

"This is not your fault, Jo. It is no one's fault but mine."

"They didn't suspend you, did they?"

Mac sighed. "Two weeks. Christine and I are leaving together and we're going to enjoy some time together."

"That's great," Jo said. "I wish things were different with this."

"Well, at least I will have some time with Christine and I don't have to worry about being called to a murder scene. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I'm going to enjoy it for the first time in ten years."

Jo smiled. "I'm glad."

"Thanks, Jo."

"You're welcome, Mac. Merry Christmas."

"You too."

When Mac was done with his report, he went into the lab where his team was and told them Merry Christmas and that he was leaving. "I'll see you guys when I get back," he said.

"Take care," Jo said and hugged him.

Everyone hugged him and then he walked out of the lab. As he was going to the elevator, Christine came out. She smiled as she saw him. Mac wanted to run to her but he walked and grabbed her in a tight hug. "Will you marry me?" he asked.

"I already said yes," Christine replied.

"I mean now."

Christine looked at him. "You mean tonight?"

Mac nodded. "We're going to run away together for two weeks," he said. "I love you, Christine and I just want to marry you and take you away."

Christine smiled. "I will." She looked toward the lab. "Are you going to invite your friends?"

"You think we should?"

"Absolutely."

Mac smiled. "Sure."

They turned to go back into the lab and then Christine looked at Mac. "Why don't we just get married here?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "Here?"

"Sure. There must be someone in this building who has the rights of performing marriages."

Mac considered that. "Well, yeah."

"That way, everyone can be here and they won't have to leave the lab."

Mac stared at her a moment. "I wanted it to be special," he said.

"Mac, if I am marrying you, it will be special."

"I have to go home and get the rings."

They told the others in the lab and they were all excited and happy. Jo told them she would get everyone in there before they got back with the rings and flowers. Mac smiled as he was leaving the precinct in the Avalanche. He would finally get married again. He would never have thought anyone could have two true loves, but here he was…

When Mac got to his apartment, John was standing in the hall. "Everything alright?" he asked.

"As well as it can be," Mac replied. "I'm about to marry Christine."

John smiled slightly. "Congratulations." He gave Mac a folder. "That should help you in the case for yourself and against John Pressman."

Mac took the folder and looked at John. "I want to thank you for your help. You saved my life, and I thank your friend too." He offered his hand.

John shook his hand. "You're welcome."

"Is there anything I could do to help you?"

"No."

"Well, I would invite you to the wedding but, I guess you wouldn't come."

"I'm afraid not, but don't worry, we'll be watching."

Mac frowned and scowled at him. "I hope we don't meet on the other side of the law," he said.

"I'll be around."

Mac unlocked his apartment door. When he looked around, John was gone, just as he expected. He went into the apartment and got the rings. He looked at the Christmas tree as he was going to the door. He would get to spend Christmas with his true love at last…


End file.
